The cult French artist makes an extraordinary return to the island.&nbsp;

Based in Paris, 20-year-old <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/art/french-artist-charles-burnex-brings-his-art-to-ibiza-for-an-exclusive-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Charles Burnex</a> is a French contemporary artist and former student of the &Eacute;cole Boulle, known for his vibrant and provocative works. He is recognized for pushing artistic boundaries and experimenting with bold colours and abstract forms, often evoking deep emotional responses from viewers. His work has attracted attention for its dynamic presence, first in the streets of Paris and then in both private collections and art galleries. In recent years, he has become an ascending figure in European art circles.

Burnex&rsquo;s work often merges reality with imagination: using influences from both ancient and modern mythologies, he blends organic and synthetic forms to contribute to an ongoing dialogue surrounding the boundaries of art and fantasy. Through a variety of media such as painting, ceramics, drawing, metal sculpture and fabrics, Burnex creates his own visual language that is at once primitive yet deeply profound. A new exhibition of the artist&rsquo;s work has just opened in <a href="https://www.lofficielibiza.com/ibiza/five-amazing-autumn-hikes-in-ibiza" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ibiza</a>, his second show at Santa Gertrudis&rsquo; boundary-blurring gallery and showroom space, <a href="https://galeriatambien.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Galeria Tambi&eacute;n.</a>

Maya Boyd: How has your work has developed since your last exhibition in Ibiza?
Charles Burnex: &lsquo;I&rsquo;m drawing a lot more than I used to. Everything that I do now starts with a drawing, even if the finished piece will be a canvas or ceramic or sculpture, the drawing always comes first. It&rsquo;s been an interesting evolution for me.&rsquo;

MB: Who or what currently inspires your style right now?
CB: &lsquo;Recently I&rsquo;ve been inspired by this kind of dream garden, for my ceramics. A dream garden and a secret gardener. I have friends in the South of France who have a big ceramics factory near Toulouse - a huge place where everything is handmade. I went to stay there for a while and it was like working in the desert, with all these cacti and succulents and desert flowers. I started to imagine a little character moving through this world. A miniature world, totally mythical. With elements of reality, but also elements of the dream world, the dream space. That&rsquo;s where my head has been recently!&rsquo;

MB: Where do your ideas come from?
CB: &lsquo;I will start with one idea that can come from anywhere, from a book or a conversation or just from the street. It might be a cow or a wheel or a person. I don't know where it&rsquo;s going, but I start to create a special world, drawing each element one by one. The plants, the animals, the figures, the symbols. I don't know what I'm going to do before I finish. I often draw the same things over and over again, never quite the same &ndash; always individual and always evolving.&rsquo;

MB: Your work has increased vastly in scale since last year. Can you explain why?
CB: &lsquo;There was a period when I was scared about moving to canvas, because canvas is expensive and I&rsquo;m used to working with much more simple materials like sketchbooks. I found a place in the north of Paris that sells reclaimed material from school closures and industrial salvage. I bought some huge rolls of felt floor covering&mdash;the material was cheaper than my Metro ticket ! -&nbsp; and in my studio, I started to work on them with my machine airbrush. I suddenly felt free because the material was good but it hadn&rsquo;t cost a fortune, so I was able take more risks with it.&rsquo;

Do you still work in a way that you would consider to be street art?&nbsp;
&lsquo;No. I always put some posters in the street. I still climb; I do a bit of graffiti. I do this kind of stuff. But I don't say I'm a street artist because street art as a style and a community is not for me. It's not my sense of art. I do stuff in the streets, sure, but I'm not a street artist. I&rsquo;m just adding mystery to the city.&rsquo;&nbsp;

How has your art connected with Ibiza?&nbsp;
&lsquo;The thing that influences me most here is the colour of the sand. It&rsquo;s reflected in my paper, in my ceramics. It&rsquo;s bizarre; it feels like the sand of the desert. I love the reptiles, the cacti, the palm trees. All the desert-like elements that I love, I find in Ibiza. It is beautiful here.&rsquo;

Burnex: From Paris to Ibiza.

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