Théo Metais is a French self-taught artist living and working in Berlin. Drawing on his background in film journalism, his visual language harnesses the narrative power of cinema alongside the expressive possibilities of painting, illustration, and comics.
As his practice has evolved, he has turned increasingly to satire and caricature, inspired by Goya's grotesques, Soutine's brushwork, the masterworks of 1980s comics, and contemporary artists celebrated for their bold, expressive line, particularly Alice Neel, Rose Wylie, Georg Baselitz, and Philip Guston.
Metais works primarily with a limited color palette, oil paint, oil sticks, ink, and various printmaking techniques to reinterpret photographs and sketches. His doodling practice often plants the seed for new projects, later developed into monotypes or paintings.
During his residency at GlogauAIR, Metais created images that probe inner vulnerability. His pieces are often completed in a single sitting and carry an intentional rawness. Inspired by the American actor Buster Keaton, he seeks unguarded ways to express the inexpressible, often depicting anonymous struggling figures that manifest inner turmoil and a peculiar beauty. Their distorted proportions become metaphors for the porous self navigating troubled times.
