User:PoojaCucumber/Mathias Durand-Reynaldo

Mathias Durand-Reynaldo also known as Coccinella was born December 23, 1957 in Le Havre, France. He is a sculptor, painter, and a fashion designer. His work is made from recycled material, and are both figurative and hyper-realistic. They denounce galloping urbanism due to the lack of civil and ecological consciousness.

Biography
Mathias Durand-Reynaldo was a  student of the plastician Jaques Lélut and a colleague of the creator Sylvie Camicas from 1998 to 2003. Today he resides in the island of Saint Martin in the Carribeans.

Painting "Un couple présidentiel" The interpretation at the Louvre Museum
On March 26, 2010, Mathias Durand-Reynaldo, walked the streets of Paris carrying a life-size painting of Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni-Sarkozy at arm’s length in front of him. He was accompanied by a documentary filmmaker who filmed the reactions of people.

Titled, "A Presidential Couple", the painting of more than 6 feet tall is painted in an academic and hyperrealism style. It is a pastiche of a work by Jacques-Louis David. Nicolas Sarkozy is represented as Napoleon I, holding in his hand a pressure washer by the brand Kärcher. He wears a pair of Rayban sunglasses in the buttonhole, while at the bottom of his jacket hangs a key ring with the image of Mickey Mouse. On the imperial seat is placed a copy of the Princess of Cleves, and in the background we see a library and the French and European flags. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy stands slightly behind him on the right side of the painting. Only her face, one shoulder, forearm and one hand are drawn, which suggests that she is naked, because no clothes are visible..

After presenting his portrait at the entrance of Salon du Livre, Durand-Reynaldo and the filmmaker enter the square courtyard of the Louvre Museum. Once they arrive at the pyramid level, they are stopped by security service who demand him to hide the painting under a sheet and to leave the premises of the museum immediately. In addition, the documentary filmmaker is prohibited from reporting and must resign himself to cut the taping short. They are then interrogated a second time by civil agents on Rivoli Street.

This incident was revealed a few weeks later by the art historian Thierry Savatier, and then by the writer Marie Darrieussecq who devote an article titled "Lèse-majesté?” in the Beaux Arts Magazine. Darrieussecq described the artist as "facetious" and his style of painting as “half pompous, half tabloid”.

Senatorial 2008
On September 9, 2008, Durand-Reynaldo officially announced his candidacy for the French senatorial elections on the island of Saint Martin.

Using a partially nude photo of himself as the official campaign portrait, Durand-Reynaldo advocated cultural and natural heritage.

Mathias Durand-Reynaldo made several resounding declarations in the Caribbean media. On September 18 in the newspaper France-Antilles, he announced his intention to bribe the electorate by promising them to waive his senatorial allowances and to pay them back in full if he is elected. On September 20, in the RFT news, he is seen perched on a pink fur bicycle, claiming that a senator is useless and that it is better to motivate the territorial team already in place.

A week before the senatorial, he made statements in The Daily Herald and in Week's hoping to bring a large number of solutions at low cost by forcing the other candidates to take into account the ecological, social and cultural loss of identity specific to the island of Saint-Martin.