Anke de Vries (collages), Laurent Félix-Faure (paintings), Sylvain Canaux (sculptures)
Galerie Craft, 50 Rue du Bourg, Dieulefit – 30 April to 31 Mai 2022

Opening hours : Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, 10h – 13h / 15h30 – 19h or visit by appointment (06 78 35 78 18)

After a pause of several months, I’m resuming the Blog in order to announce (and invite those who happen to be in the neighbourhood to come and see) our coming Spring exhibition which will be held at the Craft Gallery in Dieulefit. Since our show at Albert van Gulik’s Gallery in Charols last summer much has happened that has not made life easy for many of us, notably the Coronavirus that now fortunately seems to be dying out and more recently the invasion of Ukraine that has upset the international scene. We are hopeful that our exhibition will come as a welcome breath of fresh air in troubled times, Anke’s original and attractive collages, my paintings which are an attempt to capture some of the beauty of my surroundings, the peculiar and engaging sculptures of Sylvain who is sadly no longer with us and whose memory we wish to preserve. On three occasions in the past Anke and I held an exhibition with him and there were feelings of deep friendship between us. We have therefore suggested to his wife Regine, that his sculptures be included in our exhibition so that his creative spirit may be with us.

As for the contents of the exhibition, a short presentation of each one of the artists concerned follows, along with some reproductions of his/her work.

Important

The full proceeds derived from the sale of works by Anke de Vries and Laurent Félix-Faure will be transferred to the Association Handicap International to help disabled Ukrainians and their families.

ANKE DE VRIES (collages)

“During most of my adult life I have been an author of books for children and young adults. It is an activity that requires inspiration, imagination and perseverance. It all takes place in the mind before becoming a story that unfolds on an increasing number of pages while it is being written. However, I have always felt the need to create things with my hands. As a child I used to dress cardboard dolls with paper dresses that I made myself, choosing their colour and form like a budding fashion designer. Later I went on to make my own dresses and those of my daughters.

Nowadays, I have stopped writing altogether which gives me lots of time to devote myself to what has become my favourite activity, working with my hands and creating collages. I spend hours cutting or tearing out pieces of paper or textile and I collect all sorts of odds and ends that can be integrated into my work. My cupboards are full of cut-outs taken from art and design magazines. In no time reproductions of works by Picasso or Matisse are torn to shreds. I don’t hesitate to use string and bits of cloth and even tree bark in my collages and in order to enhance my compositions I generally add colour to them with chalk or acrylic paint. I am always extremely concentrated while making a collage and I can’t stop until I am completely satisfied with the result. “

Collage, 30 x 40 cm

Collage, 40 x 30 cm

Collage on wood, 17.5 x 17.5 cm

LAURENT FÉLIX-FAURE (paintings)

“Everything in my work, whether it is abstract or figurative, leads back to the landscape. I can’t with any degree of certainty explain why, but I suspect the reason may be my former nomadic life. During my childhood and youth, I moved from one country to another, from Australia to Norway, from Holland to Portugal, from France and Greece to Pakistan. Each time the environment changed and I wanted to be part of it and to feel completely absorbed by my new surroundings. They are all still indelibly engraved on my mind, the barren and dusty Sind Desert, the verdant Dutch polders with their wide overarching skies and impressive luminous clouds, the steep rocky slopes of the Norwegian fjords that dive deep down into the sea, the friendly landscapes of Portugal through which the Tagus slowly makes it way to the sea.

For the past twenty years my source of inspiration has been the Drôme. I never tire of its alternating landscapes, high summits, low lying rolling hills, wide plains fringed by distant mountain ranges, colours, blue, yellow and ochre and the softly diffused light, more than enough to nurture the creative spirit!”

Oil, 54 x 64 cm

Oil, 70 x 90 cm

Watercolour, 30 x 40 cm

Watercolour, 30 x 40 cm

SYLVAIN CANAUX (sculptures)

Sylvain has left us but we still strongly feel his presence, his friendship, the long discussions on art and many other topics, our adventure when we joined him in l’Art à Demeure, the three exhibitions we held together. They are treasured artistic moments and times that we have shared with him that we will never forget. Sylvain was an artist in the truest sense of the word and a poet, as his peculiar sculptures clearly show: strange fish, birds and other bizarre creatures. Some are comical but they are always deeply touching. An art critic once wrote: “Sylvain Canaux’s sculptures take on forms that nature has either refused to be responsible for or has safely kept to itself.” The remark is quite true. One does not know them in the way Sylvain has chosen to represent them but they are immediately recognisable and don’t fail to draw us into the realms of imagination and dreams.

“High up above, the bird soars

Sitting on a branch, it chirps

Resting on my windowsill, it sings

Cupped in my hand, it talks

The wingless bird on my table, questions me!”

Régine Canaux