Demkin, Georges
untitled
Georges Demkin, untitled, 1962, gouache on paper, 26 x 37 cm photo : Claudine Garcia, Atelier de numérisation – Ville de Lausanne, Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne
Author
Demkin, Georges,
(1930–1996), France
Biography
Georges Demkin (1930–1996) was born in Antibes, France, although he was of Russian descent. He served throughout the French military operations in Indochina (present-day Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia) as a volunteer parachutist. Once the war was over, he returned to Antibes, married, and had five children. He lived on a pension and small additional income from occasional work as a builder’s labourer. There is otherwise scant biographical information on this figure.
Demkin, who lost the use of his right eye, created gouaches made up of numerous finely painted, multicoloured motifs and arabesque scrolls, from which emerge numerous faces and geometric shapes. These brightly coloured, interweaving motifs appear to self-generate and multiply within compositions open to several interpretations.