Artist from France
It was by working and drawing in more than forty countries that Marc Raynaud learned to discern differences and play with contrasts.
French of origin, it was in Canada that he began his career painting the great outdoors and the energy of Rock’n roll. Then it was Asia which, for many years, nourished his sensitivity and the subtlety of his brush. Then in Africa, Marc’s drawings became more raw, simple and direct.
Today it is the light of southern Italy that guides his hand.
Stimulated by two exceptional teachers from the Ateliers des Beaux-arts in Paris, Marc has been expressing himself through his collages for around ten years and developing an original style and a personal technique, halfway between the figurative and the abstract. His paintings look like paintings but are not, they are only pasted paper.
In a world where photography and its instantaneous power reign, this slower path is for him an opportunity to contemplate what surrounds him and to build bridges between classic and modernity.
From his two workshops located opposite Capri and near the Atlantic, on the banks of the Adour, Marc has produced fifteen travel diaries from Africa to Asia, via Polynesia, and from Biarritz to the Gulf of Naples, with texts in harmony with his images.
Marc’s collages have already been exhibited in London, Milan, Paris, Rome, Suze la Rousse, Saint Laurent de Gosse, Urt and Venice.
CRITICAL REVIEW: In “Dialogue with the Invisible, Amalfitana Coast“, Mediterranean light becomes a threshold between the tangible and the unseen. The landscape is transformed into an inner space, where myth and memory surface beyond representation. Through collage, you evoke a poetic act of resilience: the ability to perceive what lies beyond appearances and to open oneself to renewed awareness.
“Matin calme aux Marquises” reflects the quiet power of transformation through encounter. Fragments of place and experience are assembled into a contemplative landscape, where travel becomes an inner journey. The work embodies renewal as a process of recomposition, suggesting that resilience emerges through openness to the unknown and the integration of lived experience.
“Concert à Venise” captures the intensity of an unexpected moment in which sound, space, and emotion converge. This work transforms memory into a visual rhythm, where reality and imagination merge. The collage becomes an expression of authenticity, affirming that transformation often arises from moments of wonder that disrupt the ordinary.
“Femme étrusque songeuse” evokes introspection and continuity between past and present. The figure appears suspended in thought, embodying identity as a living dialogue with memory and origin. Through delicate layering, the work reflects the strength of vulnerability and the possibility of renewal rooted in self-awareness. – Dr. Carmela Loiacono, Art Curator
more. www.marcraynaud.com | Instagram profile
INTERVIEW with Marc Raynaud
Carmela Loiacono talks with Marc Raynaud who took part in the International Art Exhibition NEW HORIZONS – Authenticity, Resilience and Renewal in Matera, at Casa Cava, from March 21 to 27, 2026.
Carmela Loiacono – Your works, including “Concert à Venise”, “Dialogue avec l’invisible, Amalfitana Coast”, “Femme étrusque songeuse” and “Matin calme aux Marquises”, reveal a dialogue between memory, myth, and landscape. How do you transform fragments of experience and place into a poetic act of resilience through your collages?
Marc Raynaud – The Invisible is everywhere. « Don’t forget to draw what you do not see », used to tell my former teacher at The Fine Arts School in Paris.
Memory is what is the most visible, what we have seen. The Invisible is the Future, what is lying behind us, in our back as the African say. Our Past is in front of us. Under the rocks of my Art Studio in front of Capri, the mermaids became stone statues when Ulysses stopped by with his navigators. I guess other people also see these invisible queens.
The spot is called « Punta Licosa » (Mermaid Point) in San Marco di Castellabate where yo can visit my Art Studio.
Carmela Loiacono – Collage, for you, is a slower, contemplative process in a world dominated by photography. How does this meditative approach influence your perception of authenticity and the renewal of the inner self?
Marc Raynaud – I practice Collage silently in the morning before anything moves in the house. So immediately I am back into childhood and can think about the charming schoolteachers I had when I was four or six (and not sixty four). I am still in love with them like all my little classmates.
I can see all the little boys in the classroom and name them all on the class picture of the year. I may even pray for them for no reason and without them knowing. Or may be they now.
Who knows?
I slowly take off in my souvenirs and mix them with new dreams and songs that I have not sung for decades. Doing so I meditate and follow with humility my cutter and the sheet of paper who drive me towards the emerging piece of Art that progressively appears. I am grateful to the glue, the tool and the paper that allow this to happen.
Carmela Loiacono – Across your travels from Africa and Asia to Polynesia and southern Italy your works capture both external landscapes and inner journeys. How does the act of recomposing reality through collage allow you to explore renewal and personal transformation?
Marc Raynaud – Recomposing Reality is fun. Another Art teacher of mine, who was crazy enough, used to tell us that who are allowed to lie when drawing or painting because nobody else sees what we see anyway.
When practicing Collage, silence and patience allow me to discern among all the lies I have been taught when I was a child and until now.
Getting aware of them allow me to feel lighter and even freer today. Freedom, the great privilege of the artist!
The same miracle happens when I realize all that was forbidden when I was a young boy. Overcoming these forbidden barriers allowed me to discover new landscapes and worlds.
Without these former barriers I would not have the same personality and pleasure today. Thank you Mum!
Carmela Loiacono – Looking forward, are there new directions, projects, or places that inspire you to further develop your collage practice and continue exploring the interplay between memory, light, and identity?
Marc Raynaud – Recently I have made a serie of abstract collages that may look like dating from the 30’ or 50’. Playing and creating in the time when I was born and before was an unexpected and very joyful journey. The result was a broader view of my art.
Even if my Muse did not like this serie of abstract collages too much at the beginning, I showed them to visitors who came to my Art studio near Capri.
And some of them who knew me immediately said « Now we know you and understand you even better ! ».
