jean-michel raczinski

let's dance

acrylic on plexiglas - 28.35 x 39.37 x 6.10 in - 2024

"let's dance" is a tribute to Henri Matisse, from whom I borrowed a few elements of his painting "La Danse," painted in 1909 for the Russian collector Sergei Shchukin and currently housed in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.

My painting is part of a series called "transparencies."

It depicts figures in motion amidst forms that can be interpreted as vegetal, mineral, or purely symbolic.

It is created on Plexiglas with a fluorescent blue border, both transparent and reflective, using iridescent pigments and a textured surface so that the viewer's perception of the work changes depending on variations in lighting or when moving in front of the painting.

This is therefore a painting filled with hope, freedom, humanity, energy, and life on a surface that reflects our multifaceted world, where reflections and transparencies interact and draw us into their movements. It also suggests a more intimate vision, a kind of inner dialogue through the artwork, towards the other side of the mirror.

The painting was presented at Galerie 41 in Saint-Mandé in October 2025. It will be exhibited at the Grand Palais in Paris as part of the Art Capital 2026 exhibition from February 13 to 15.

square of Sun

acrylic on plexiglas - 35.43 x 35.43 x 6.30 in - 2025

This painting was first presented at Galerie 41 in Saint-Mandé in October 2025. It will be exhibited at the 42nd Delacroix Art Exhibition in Saint-Maurice from January 31 to February 14.

It is a solar magic square created on a transparent plexiglas sheet, heated to three-dimensional form and covered with white acrylic paint, itself coated with pure golden pigments.

The magic square of order 6 arranges the first 36 numbers (from 1 to 36) in 6 rows and 6 columns such that the sums of each row, each column, and the two diagonals are identical (111). This digital structure, engraved on the plexiglas, is clearly visible from within the painting.

Traditions attribute solar values ​​to these 6-order squares: success, benevolence, warmth, light and dynamism which will probably be found in the apparently disordered movements of some figures and in an overall impulse of embrace.

Mars in white & black

acrylic on plexiglas - 35.43 x 35.43 x 2.36 in - 2025

I created this painting in late August 2025 specifically for the 42nd Delacroix Art Exhibition in Saint-Maurice, on the theme of "black & white."

It will be on display there from January 31st to February 14th.

It is an iridescent white acrylic painting on a dark gray tinted, semi-transparent, and slightly three-dimensional plexiglas support.

The digital structure is a magic square of order 5, formed from the numbers 1 to 25 arranged in squares across 5 rows and 5 columns such that the sums of each row, each column, and the two diagonals are identical (65).

These numbers are engraved on the plexiglas support and are still visible in places.

Squares of order 5 are traditionally associated with the values ​​of Mars: strength, vigor, determination, and power—not only military or warlike, as Mars is also the protector of harvests, a symbol of fertility and renewal…

This is why you will likely also discover some figures, animals, and plants in this juxtaposition of squares.