Philippe Pastor (born 1961) is a Monegasque artist. An
abstract expressionist
Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...
, his work has been exhibited in Europe, Africa, Asia and the United States. A participant of the 2007
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
, he represents Monaco's art scene at the
Expo 2015
Expo 2015 was a World's fair, World Expo hosted by Milan, Italy. It opened on May 1 at 10:00 Central European Summer Time, CEST and closed on October 31. Milan hosted an exposition for the second time; the first was the 1906 Milan Internation ...
.
Early life
Pastor was born in 1961 in Monaco. His father, Victor Pastor, was a billionaire real estate developer. His paternal grandfather, Gildo Pastor, developed most of the residential buildings along Monaco's coastline. He has two brothers, Jean-Victor and Patrice, and a sister, Marie-Helene. Following his father's death with a net wealth of $5.4 billion, ''
Bloomberg
Bloomberg may refer to:
People
* Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer
* Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian
* Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...
'' considers each of his four children to be billionaires.
He is self-taught.
Career
Pastor creates art in a barn on the hills of Monaco. He also works in
Saint-Tropez
Saint-Tropez ( , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var departments of France, department and the regions of France, region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Southern France. It is west of Nice and east of Marseille, o ...
and
Figueres
Figueres (; ) is the capital city of Alt Empordà county, in the Girona region, Catalonia, Spain.
The town is the birthplace of artist Salvador Dalí, and houses the Dalí Theatre and Museum, a large museum designed by Dalí himself which att ...
, near
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
in
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...
El Periódico de Catalunya
EL, El or el may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional entities
* El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit
* Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things''
* El, fami ...
'', 24 November 2013 His main theme is the interaction of man with nature in our postmodern, virtual society. He is an abstract expressionist.unlearning intolerance: Art changing attitudes towards the environment United Nations For his paintings, he uses pigments on large canvases, and sometimes adds dead leaves and twigs.
In Monaco, his work can be seen at Monaco Modern’Art, Le Formentor, alongside the work of Marcelline Lapouffe. Overseas, his work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in France, Italy, Spain, Kenya and the United States. It was also shown at the 2007 Vienna Biennale. His work has been auctioned by
Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
.
Since 2003, Pastor has collected burned wood from the forest of
La Garde-Freinet
La Garde-Freinet (; Provençal: ''La Gàrdia Frainet'') is a commune in the Var department in the Côte d'Azur area in southeastern France.
Location
La Garde-Freinet is a medieval French mountain village, located in the Massif des Maures, 1 ...
and made sculptures with them to draw attention to the fact that every year, forests are caught on fire on Southern France, Italy and Spain. As part of the
United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...
, these sculptures, called "Burned Trees", have been exhibited permanently at the
United Nations Office at Nairobi
The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON, ) in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is one of four major United Nations office sites where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. Established in 1996, it is the UN's official headquarte ...
since 2006, and at the
Nice Côte d'Azur Airport
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million They were also exhibited in
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
in 2007. That same year, he founded the Art & Environnement Association. In 2014, the sculptures were exhibited at the
Gare du Nord
The Gare du Nord (; ), officially Paris Nord, is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station is served by trains that run between the capital and northern France via the Paris–Lille railway, as well ...
Paris Match
''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly gossip magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. ''Paris Match'' has been considered "one of the world's best outlets for photojournalism". ...
'', 27 November 2014
At the
Expo 2015
Expo 2015 was a World's fair, World Expo hosted by Milan, Italy. It opened on May 1 at 10:00 Central European Summer Time, CEST and closed on October 31. Milan hosted an exposition for the second time; the first was the 1906 Milan Internation ...
in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
, he was the main artist representing Monaco's artscene.
Artnet
Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City. It is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly-traded company based in Berlin that is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Ex ...