This work is a sort of symbolic geology invented from scratch by Patrick Gourgouillat. It is part of his [Viva La Vida] series, which is anchored in a choice of bright colours and dynamic compositions. "The Gardeners" is composed of four phases evoking moments of existence: childhood, doubts and fears and death. The gardeners, on the other hand, are part of the present. Patrick Gourgouillat gives his interpretation of life and its opposite, death. At the bottom of the painting, a couple dance a frantic swing under the influence of two reapers, the symbol of death. This dance evokes the carefree years of youth. A few punks with flamboyant iroquois seem to be chanting their recurring slogans: "No Future" and "Punk Not Dead". Red cats talk about life and reincarnation. A monkey with a skeleton body lets a wheel spin in the void: this is a free interpretation of the arcane "Wheel of Fortune" in the Tarot de Marseille. Finally, a baby cries blood: a call to life or eternal regrets for what is no longer?
"The Gardeners" is above all a hymn to life and death, and ultimately questions the relativity and use of time. What do we do with it? One thinks of rereading "Candide" by Monsieur Voltaire...
Sources of inspiration? The artist likes the improbable and imagines a meeting between the Dutch painter Jerome Bosch, Roy Lichtenstein and Keith Haring. This is often the case in Patrick Gourgouillat's works. The improbable becomes reality, his reality, on an initially white piece of canvas...
