Clément Denis transforms the knowledge he has acquired into works that reflect emotion and social issues. From painting and sculpture to mosaic and installation, his practice spans a wide range of media. His latest creation, Painting the Wind, can be seen as a collaboration with his longtime friend, perfumer Ugo Charron. A member of the renowned French fragrance house MANE, Charron created an original scent titled Painting the Wind n°1.6 specifically for this work. Denis incorporated this fragrance into his paint, using it as a material to complete the piece.

Both Clément Denis and Ugo Charron speak to the concept and creation of Painting the Wind, shedding light on its development from their respective perspectives.

Clément Denis on the Relationship Between Scent and Painting

Whitestone Ginza New Gallery

- What is your impression of the scent you co-created for this exhibition?

Denis: Almost ten years ago, Ugo Charron and I created a scent for a painting. Back then, our goal was to find an olfactory presence that could accompany an existing artwork.

But for this exhibition, the approach was different — it felt like something was missing from the painting itself, as if a layer had been left out. That absence created a space to fill. The perfume became a kind of pictorial material, but intangible — a color that didn’t exist on the traditional palette. We worked with this idea of absence, and scent became the invisible element that completed the work.

- How did the idea of applying the scent directly onto the artwork come to you?

Denis: We explored many directions during our tests, but Ugo's idea of applying the scent directly onto the painting became the obvious choice. It allowed the two mediums to merge completely. I didn’t want the scent to be conceptual or illustrative. I didn’t want it to surround the painting like an aura — it had to belong to the painting.

Think of Proust — it’s not the madeleine that reminds him of childhood, it’s the involuntary memory triggered by the scent. That’s what I wanted. Not a smell about the painting, but one that exists within it and inseparable from it. Without the scent, the painting would be incomplete.

Whitestone Ginza New Gallery

- In your opinion, what impact can scent have on the perception of a work of art?

Denis: I’ve always dreamed of creating a work that could touch all the senses — something irresistible. But I didn’t know how to get there, until a formative conversation in 2016 with Nathalie Miltat. We were discussing the Beauté Congo exhibition, and she told me that it had brought back everything from her childhood in Benin — the colors, the materials, the figures. But something was missing: the smells.

That stayed with me. I realized then that an artwork could be more than an image — it could become a sensory space, a living body.Scent roots the artwork in memory and in the body. It turns it into something you can no longer forget.

 - The language of color seems to have been central to your dialogue with Ugo Charron. Can you tell us more about this synesthetic conversation?

Denis: Ugo and I had to find a shared language between painting and scent. We spoke in colors, in movement, in texture. I described to him my gestures, my silences, the tension of my brushstrokes. He translated those into olfactory intensity and harmony. We invented a kind of map between elements: a yellow might become acidic, a transparency aquatic, a shadow resinous.

Whitestone Ginza New Gallery

- You speak of a “total work of art. ” What does this notion mean to you, and how does this collaboration bring you closer to it?

Denis: The total work is one that overflows the frame — one that no longer belongs solely to the eye, but also to breath, to memory, to the lived moment.

With this collaboration, I had the feeling that I was painting beyond the visible. Scent extends the gesture. It’s invisible, yet physically felt. Perhaps that’s what total work really is: not something you observe from the outside, but something that enters you.

- Do you think combining painting and scent offers a new path for artistic creation?

Denis: Yes, absolutely. It forces you to break away from a purely visual logic and to think of the artwork as a multisensory experience. Scent is mobile — it floats, it transforms over time. It reintroduces the notion of duration into painting. It also transforms the viewer’s role — no longer facing the canvas from a distance, but entering into an invisible space, breathing it in.

- In today’s visually saturated world, is engaging the other senses in contemporary art a form of resistance?

Denis: Yes and no. It could be indeed seen by some people as a form of gentle resistance. The eye is often saturated, overstimulated. But scent is intimate, fragile, primal. It doesn’t lie. It creates a direct, emotional link.

By inviting the viewer to feel differently, we slow things down. We ask for another kind of presence. And I believe that’s where art regains its power.

Ugo Charron： On Scenting the Invisible

Ugo Charron(Left) and Clément Denis(Right)

- What is your impression of the scent you actually collaborated on?

Charron: This collaboration is unique. We set out to push the boundaries of what scent can be in the context of art. It’s not just perfume. It’s part of the artwork. The scent doesn’t illustrate the painting, it inhabits it. It’s emotional, immersive, and synesthetic. The final fragrance is both atmospheric and intimate. It lives between visible form and invisible emotion.

- How did the idea of applying perfume directly onto the artwork come about?

Charron: We met almost ten years ago, and I immediately fell in love with Clément’s art. I’ve always been passionate about cross-medium collaboration. Since my world is perfume, I’m constantly looking for ways to integrate it outside traditional contexts. When I suggested applying scent directly onto the artwork, Clément was all in.

- What kind of effect do you think scent has on the experience of art?

Charron: Scent completes the artwork. It enhances emotional perception. I truly believe people will remember a scented painting far more vividly than an unscented one. Because scent touches memory in a powerful, involuntary way. It opens a whole new, invisible dimension. It connects the viewer with the painting on a deeper, more intimate level.

In Painting the Wind n°1.6

- What story were you trying to tell through this scent? How did you mix your personal impressions of the painting with Clément’s vision?

Charron: This collaboration was about innovation. We worked hand in hand, mind to mind, nose to nose. Our goal was for the painting and the scent to become one medium.

Clément’s colors and brushwork inspired my olfactory vocabulary. I translated hues into raw material qualities, movements into intensities and synergies. We developed a kind of synesthetic language to align our visions. What he painted, I interpreted through scent — so colors became smells, and smells became colors.

- Can you tell more about the composition of this specific scent? Why did you choose those molecules, and how does the scent creation process work at MANE?

Charron: Creating a fragrance is an artisanal and patient process. It’s like writing a recipe. Each ingredient must be exact, each has its place. At MANE, I work with a palette of over 1,500 ingredients, both natural and synthetic. Natural materials can be extracted in various ways such as steam, solvent, Jungle Essence™ and each method produces a unique olfactory profile. My job is to compose a balanced, invisible architecture. Sometimes the balance itself is intentionally unbalanced, to evoke emotion.

In Painting the Wind n°1.6, I wanted to express the contrast of light and shadow. It opens with Aqual™, a crystalline aquatic molecule evoking clear skies and early morning fog. Japanese Yuzu shifts that whiteness into gentle yellow hues. Then comes Cardamom Jungle Essence™from Guatemala — a trembling, pale green freshness like a new leaf. At its heart lies Canadian Fir Absolute, a resinous green base note that grounds the whole. Finally, Mimosa Absolute burns red — a solar warmth, nostalgic and intimate, like a memory of skin or a sunset behind closed eyes.

Clément Denis and Ugo Charron discovered a shared language between scent and painting. Born from their dialogue, Painting the Wind offers a new artistic experience by engaging both sight and smell simultaneously.

This attempt to let the viewer feel the painting paves the way toward a total work of art.

Clément Denis: In Search of Light