Ronald Dupont

Ronald Dupont lives and works in Comines, Belgium. He is entirely self-taught, and since he began his career in the 1980s he has continuously experimented and evolved as an artist. He is well known for his dynamic cityscapes, often depicting the iconic avenues of cities such as New York and San Fransisco. His scenes are full of life, with energetic brushstrokes that blend color and form, creating an animated atmosphere. This energetic quality is in part due to his use of Venice Turpentine, a resin which allows oil paint to be instantly solidified, permanently capturing his quick brushstrokes. Using this method, Dupont casts the constant urban movement of traffic and pedestrians into elegantly shifting colors and shapes. The artist captures the pulse of city life within his artwork.

Although his style is painterly and dynamic, his artwork also has a photographic quality to it, with precise cropping, framing, and proportions. Additionally, his work is informed by the recent use of satellite imagery and electronic mapping, and his paintings are often innovative versions of what one may see from a satellite above a city. These qualities are enhanced by the fact that although much of his artwork depicts sprawling American cities, Dupont is from Belgium and views these places as an outsider. This outsider status allows him to capture the unique details and beauty of urban places that may be missed by people native to the city. His original eye for urbanity has gained him worldwide notoriety, and he has been exhibiting internationally for over 20 years, with work featured in numerous private, public, and corporate collections.

Born in 1961, Ronald Dupont’s creative work was predominantly inspired by the 1980s. The generation of artists that grew up in, and took inspiration from, the 1980s was influenced by a period of rapidly growing global capitalism, political upheaval, significant wealth differences, global mass media and distinctive music and fashion, including electronic pop music and hip hop. The nineteen eighties was the era of African famine, the height of the Cold War, and also the end of it, as marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall. influential art movements of the era include Neo Geo, The Pictures Generation and the global trend of Neo-Expressionism which manifested in Germany, the USA and Italy (where it was known as Transavanguardia). The decade was exemplified by artists like Anselm Kiefer, Jörg Immendorf, Enzo Cucchi, Francesco Clemente and Julian Schnabel. Street art and graffiti began to gain prominence, key artists of which include Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf.

Multiple galleries around the world represent and exhibit Ronald Dupont’s work, including galleries in countries like Belgium, Switzerland, and the United States. Some of those galleries are Absolute Art Gallery in Belgium, Bel Air Fine Art | Geneva in Switzerland, as well as Waltman Ortega Fine Art | Miami in the United States.