Stéphane DELAPRÉE

An artist who went through comic strip drawing and publishing, Stéphane Delaprée, was able to create his very own style in painting. For over 10 years, since he arrived in South-East Asia, Stef has tried to make us see, using free figuration, what is more typical and endearing in this part of Asia. Funny and colorful, his art is extremely popular and accessible to all. The universe he offers us in his work is happy and uncomplicated. Thanks to him we forget adjectives that are normally attached to this sick world: War, poverty and dark skies. Some words taken from the poetry of Jacques Prévert (Major French 20th century artist) describe Stef’s work perfectly. Here they are: “ ...on the blackboard of despair, he drew the face of happiness ... ” being fond of working over the same subjects, Stef also does hand made limited editions serigraphs of some of his works on T-shirts and on hand made mulberry paper. He also offers less fortunate travelers the opportunity to acquire his beautiful reproductions. Great souvenirs! His success comes from his very own style, which he named “Happy Painting”. To help us discover it, he opened his own galleries in Cambodia. His dream is to have his concept seen all over the planet. Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Laos, China, Singapore, France, Spain and Canada have already inspired this artist.

Anne-Sylvie Charest
Art critic