K-OODI Magazine March 2016, Issue 4 | Page 104

JÉRÔME CHERPRENET- featured artwork "Hallo Spaceboy" "Thirty-three years ago, I discovered 'Let's Dance', like most of the world. I was 11, and music was starting to interest me. I liked the music of the 80's. The kind you could dance to. I was attracted by the Tin Machine project and I quickly added their live concert, released in 1992, into my music library. Three years later, in my third year of visual art studies, buying the album 'Outside' was like an electric shock to me. Maybe because it was announced as a return of this artist, after few albums down by critics, in the late 80's and early 90's. 'Outside' was and is a piece of art in all its splendor, from the painted illustration by the artist himself, to the concept, the sound, the atmosphere... until Strangers When We Meet. After that I bought, step by step, a big part of his (rich) discography and discovered many jewels. In February 20, 1996 I saw my first live concert at Paris Bercy, and it was David Bowie promoting the 'Outside' album. A show with the atmosphere of the album. Again, it was like a shock to me. One year later, in June, during a music festival at the Parc Des Princes in Paris, I watched one of the best concerts of my life, with my father and two friends. David Bowie was headlining (after Placebo, Ben Harper, Paul Personne, Sheryl Crow) with his excellent album 'Earthling'. He gave an amazing show and made us travel into a futuristic world... I definitely became a fan of David Bowie's art (although I was slightly disappointed with the following albums because I found them more "conventional"). In September 2002 at the Zenith in Paris was the last time I saw David Bowie live in concert. I went to see the show with a childhood girl friend. On the 9th of January 2016 I bought his latest album 'Black Star' in Bordeaux and I listened to it on January 11th... With a heavy heart, I listened carefully to this beautiful work. Being a musician and a painter myself, I wanted to pay tribute to this exceptional artist who influenced my different works of art. That's why, in March 2015, I painted his portrait titled 'Hallo Spaceboy.' Today, his works have become, to our delight, immortal. "It's the fact of living that interests me, not the result" - David Bowie https://www.facebook.com/desairsdarts/ https://www.instagram.com/desairsdarst/ https://twitter.com/desairsdarts http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jeromec-desairsdarts