Exuding Power in Moments of Vulnerability: Frantz Lexy
Written by Isabella Espenilla
Frantz Lexy joined Fountain Street as a core member in the winter of 2021. Originally exhibiting in Out of Place, an international call-for-art, juried by Jameson Johnson, Boston Art Review (BAR) in January 2020, Frantz received an honorable mention for his piece “Crooked.” The honorable mention came with a three person show titled Reality Check in November 2020 in the Fountain Street Annex space with fellow juror choice recipients Alayna Coverly and Lior Neiger.
In this blog post, written by our summer 2021 intern Isabella Espenilla, we get to learn more about his artistic career, inspiration, and the exploration in his studio.
Frantz Lexy, The words that made me, acrylic on wood panel, 12 x 9 inches
Isabella: So, I've looked at some of your work and it's so great. My personal favorite is The words that made me. That painting really touched me.
Frantz: Yeah, thank you! It's not for sale. It’s my grandmother, and I just like to have it. I'm glad that connected with you because it's a special piece.
Isabella: It showed a lot of dreamy-like qualities by just looking at the eyes. The crown reminded me of a queen that was a strong and powerful figure that everyone looks up to, but it also showed a little vulnerability to me. I really like that duality.
Frantz: Yeah, it's really interesting that photo. That painting exudes so much power, and when I took that photo, I took a picture of my grandmother while she was over at the hospital waiting room waiting to get care. I thought that picture was a moment we should turn around, and I looked at her eyes and took that picture. Being in a hospital waiting room is a moment of vulnerability, so I like to flip it and give it a sense of power. My grandmother has always been my personal hero.
Isabella: What narrative do you want to show through your artwork?
Frantz: I'm still figuring that out. I think in the past I’ve done a lot of work with this feeling of anxiety coming through it, but I like to have a balance of that and a celebration of life. I like the narrative that I want to come across: anger and anxiety, but also, I think I try to elevate people that look like me in my work and put them in positions of power. I think it's really cool to insert a picture of a family member or something on the wall and people come in and look at it and find it beautiful so that's something that's important to me. I'm still figuring it out what narrative I want to say, but I'm trying to be as truthful as possible. However, that narrative comes out, I'm a student of the work as much as any other viewer so the narrative is unfolding as it should.
Frantz Lexy, Bare skin, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 inches
Isabella: I like that a lot. Now that you say that I see that with all your paintings. The one that came to mind was the sunflower field and another one where you have a naked lady in a garden. There’s also this one painting that has a lot of different parts.
Frantz: I was trying to figure out what the hell is going on so a lot of work I've been doing recently there is a chaotic feel. To go back to the question of narrative I don't really know what's happening. I feel like recently everything has been happening all the time and there's an overall sense of chaos. By the time you get to grasp what you did, the landscape already changed. There's something new every day you must conceptualize. I like to use a lot of contradicting imagery. For example, I think it has this balance of seeking joy and celebrating life as a form of protest. Like radical enjoyment of life. Embracing of life especially with that piece.
Isabella: How would you describe your own personal narrative?
Frantz:: Haha the hard questions… my personal narrative. Well, I just turned 30 two days ago. How should I answer that… well, I would say it's been a journey trying to define what home is. I was born in Haiti, and we’ve all heard all the recent stories. I am a black immigrant, and I was writing something for second. I was saying how interesting it is to have lived in the 21st country as free black people yet to find this country with the highest rates of incarcerated black people. I am fascinated by absurd things and those sorts of contradictions. I actually discovered painting sort of late … five years ago which means mid 20s. It's kind of like “Oh, wow, I found where I belong.” I'm still finding my home and my own practice because I am still trying to find my own language, and I want to continue pursuing my practice. I guess that question of my own narrative is so difficult because I think a lot of people would like to exude a lot of confidence in who they are and what they represent, but at least for me I feel like I've always been looking for it. So, it's kind of a non-answer.
Isabella: You said own language… I just wanted to clarify what that means to you: own language?
Frantz: I was referring more to art. It's hard to tell if people can recognize my art out of a million and say, “Oh that looks like Frantz Lexy.” I'm not sure if I would be able to because I feel like I'm kind of all over the place, but I think I'm still getting closer to something that’s truly my own. I'm still searching for that, so I guess that's what I mean by my own language. I'm still refining my languages, and I still find it hard to do an elevator pitch of my work.
Isabella: How has your identity shaped the hard work you create?
Frantz: Oh yeah, I'd say that more than anything my identity as a black person and immigrant is reflected in my work. I think there is something whimsical and wonderful in my work, but also add and that layer of anxiety. I think I'm a pretty a happy person for most of the time, but I'm mostly anxious at the same time. I like to think that that's reflected in my work. It's kind of confusing yeah but it's also very relatable. I like a mystery and wonder in my work. I was looking at my work recently, and I noticed that a lot of them have the color white on top things. I stopped and looked at it, and I use the color white in an interesting way.
Frantz Lexy, Crooked, acrylic and ink on canvas, 30x40 inches
Isabella: Does white have significance to you?
Frantz: I don't know. I wouldn't say consciously… probably not consciously, but I feel like white can be seen like a space between those paintings and be empty space. Is it empty or is it full? That feeling of the white space meaning something that's incomplete. I guess part of it is me hoping to create the sense the work is not really complete. Part of me is hoping that feeling of something being incomplete conveys a bit of anxiety like “Ah why is this white space here?” I'm also interested in the concept of waste…something being wasted. I am going to relate that to my own life… not being able to go home. I still feel this sense of something being wasted like something is incomplete, or even as I'm here I still feel like something feels off. Something is incomplete, and not fully being able to enjoy the whole.
Isabella: Is there a specific piece of work of yours that calls you in a certain way?
Frantz: So, one that calls me is anytime now. Basically, it’s a portrait of a girl and she's laying on her back. It’s acrylic mediums on panel. So, I've been using molding paste, and I have been developing a technique with it, so it looks like rock. This girl is laying on her bag and she has this piece of rock that's like right in front of her and it looks like it's blocking the light. That piece like is very personal to me because there’s a balance of anxiety but also confidence through the anxiety. I wanted the viewer to have a somewhat of a transcendent experience looking at the piece because of the way the combination of the material and the subject matter emerged together.
Frantz Lexy, Any time, now, acrylic mixed media on wood panel, 24 x18 inches
Isabella: Have you always wanted to be an artist, or did you find yourself going down several paths?
Frantz: I mean I did enjoy writing but it was just like mostly silly stories. I used to do it for fun. I said to myself to start painting, and I've always respected painting. When I started, I was about to graduate college doing this business degree thing, and I still don't think that's my home. I was wanting to be artist, but I didn't really know how. Even when I was like little kid, if I go to a library and find like a book on art or something, I would be amazed. But I never thought that's what I want to do.
Isabella: What does success look like for you?
Frantz: Success for me would mean to be able to create work that's creatively adventurous, but also being financially sustainable. And also, be engaged with issues that I care about, so if I could have combination of that, that’s success. It’s really important to me to experiment, and if I were to have critical or financial success without the excitement of being able to try new things, it wouldn’t be success. I like to push myself and create enough to continue coming up with the new ideas, but I think to me pushing myself creatively is at the top of what success means to me: being able to create something and find satisfaction within myself. I think this is the most important part of success, but also be able to pay bills.
Isabella: OK, thank you so much! This was really good!