Through the use of multiple artistic mediums ranging from painting to sculpture, DUGA, creates a rather particular aesthetic in his works. This Belgian artist finds his roots, his influences, in the primitive arts, African art, Aboriginal art, Native American art, art brut but also in Naïve art.
Detaching himself from classic academic principles to focus on his own style
Born in Brussels in 1963, Christian Dugardeyn (aka DUGA) is an artist belonging to the Free Expression movement. After an unavoidable periode studying at the Beaux-Arts, he quickly emancipates himself from the artistic techniques taught there to refocus on his instinctive emotions. He paints and sculpts viscerally, in a state of regression and on the fringe of contemporary artistic trends.
Reclaiming his influences in order to give real substance to his emotions
DUGA gives free rein to his emotions through various techniques: drawing, painting and sculpture. Among the contemporary artists who have influenced his work are the likes of Basquiat and Combas. From the movement of free figuration, DUGA is inspired by Aléchinsky, Appel and the Cobra group. Not to mention Picasso, Schiele and Expressionism as well as Dubuffet, Art Brut and Street Art. According to him, an artist cannot remain in their comfort zone; they must open up, soak up the influences from the past to rework and create.
In Picasso, Basquiat and in Street Art, it is the distorted nature of the characters which interest him with the conservation of a certain anatomical fidelity and body language. From Street Art, writings and graffiti, he retains the fluidity and speed of gesture as well as the explosion of colors.
