A David Daoud Exhibition on inner movement
Some exhibitions tell a story. Others open a door.
Leaving, the exhibition, dedicated to the works of David Daoud at the Retour De Voyage Gallery, belongs to the latter. Here, departure is not simply about leaving.. It is a state of being. An inner tension. A way of inhabiting the world.
The paintings on display explore that fragile moment when one leaves something behind without yet knowing what lies ahead. Between memory and horizon, between attachment and the necessity to move forward, David Daoud gives form to this universal gesture : leaving.
Within the gallery space, the works invite a silent, almost meditative gaze.
David Daoud, a life shaped by movement
Born in Lebanon, David Daoud grew up in a world disrupted by civil war. From an early age, his life was marked by displacement, rupture and reconstruction.
Between Lebanon, Gabon and France, his childhood and youth unfolded across an unstable geography, where reference points constantly shifted. This experience profoundly informs his work. For Daoud, movement is never a mere aesthetic motif. It is lived experience, almost existential.
Trained at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts and later at the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, he developed a practice deeply attentive to material, to the physical presence of the artwork and to the expressive power of color.
Painter, draftsman and sculptor, he now builds a powerful pictorial universe, where the energy of gesture dialogues with memory.
« Leaving » : a universal theme
To leave can be exile, escape, quest or simply a movement of life.
In Leaving, David Daoud explores these dimensions through vibrant compositions where human silhouettes, riders or moving figures often appear.
These presences are never described in a narrative way. They emerge instead as traces, as apparitions, sometimes almost dissolved within the pictorial matter.
The viewer does not witness a specific scene. but encounters a sensation. Intense colors, dynamic lines and dense material convey the energy of departure. At times turbulent, at times luminous. as if each painting captures a moment of transition.
A painting of movement
One of the most striking aspects of David Daoud’s work is the way movement traverses the pictorial surface :
The material seems to vibrate. Forms shift. Colors respond to one another.
The composition is never static. It suggests a world in constant transformationThis visual dynamism evokes both physical travel and inner displacement. For Daoud, movement is a way of thinking life itself. This visual dynamism evokes both physical travel and inner displacement.
For Daoud, movement is a way of thinking life itself.
Galerie Retour De Voyage : a place for artistic trajectories
Presenting « Leaving » at Galerie Retour De Voyage is no coincidence.
Since its creation, the gallery has focused on artists whose work engages with the notions of travel, displacement and encounter. Not travel as tourism, but as a human and artistic experience. Within this context, David Daoud’s work finds its natural place. His paintings carry within them the idea of trajectory, transformation and openness.
Visitors are invited to move through the exhibition as one would cross an inner landscape.
An invitation to see differently
In front of David Daoud’s works, the gaze slows down.
First comes the energy of color, the material, then, almost discreetly, the figures that emerge.
Riders, boats, silhouettes, or human presences seem to move through the pictorial space, carried by a story each viewer can imagine. « Leaving » does not provide ready-made answers, it offers a sensory experience.
After all, leaving may be one of the most deeply human gestures.
Why discover this exhibition
- discover the powerful and expressive universe of David Daoud
- Explore a painting where movement and memory are in dialogue
- Experience a sensitive artistic journey in the heart of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
- Encounter a body of work that speaks not only of departure, but also of return