Victor Gounel is a figurative artist specialising in large-scale portraiture. With over 16 years of practice, he began exhibiting and selling his work at an early age. Today his paintings appear in the collections of important figures in French cinema and culture, such as Gregory Montel, Adeline Picault and Julien Hirsh.

« The large scale is movement, choreography; the brush stroke – a sharp trace of the present moment. Portraiture is an instant result of years of practice, where the gaze leaves you with eternity and all the rest is forgotten. »

In 2023, Gounel undertook a radical transformation of his practice. After destroying his previous body of work, he embarked on a year-long journey around the world. This period of renewal culminated in Galassia, his first major exhibition upon returning to Europe. The show introduced his distinctive square-format portraits, marked by close-up framing and a powerful immediacy that defines his current practice.

This latest work was poetically described by Italian writer Paolo Bocchi :

« Floating, suspended in the air as if on the edge of a black hole, where time stops,
where reality and the present take on diluted coordinates.
Investigators – Investigated
Connected to a double gaze with no way out,
hypnotized, displaced, in love…
Until understanding
that these faces are stars, that these drawings are constellations,
that these paintings are the deep lights of
an artistic galaxy…
Enjoying once again
these sword blow brushstrokes
and then flying away… Towards the sea, with a smile, enchanted. »