Exposition "Unités/Dualités" à Pully du 28 mai au 20 juin

Comme je l'ai mentionné dans un précédent billet, j'ai le plaisir d'exposer mes nouvelles oeuvres à la galerie d'art Iris à Pully, du 28 mai au 20 juin. La galerie Iris a été ouverte récemment par l'illustratrice Melina Costas qui y donne aussi des cours de dessin et me fait le plaisir de m'ouvrir ses portes et ses murs.

Je me réjouis donc de vous accueillir dès le samedi 28 mai dès 17h pour le vernissage. La galerie sera ensuite ouverte tous les après-midi de semaine et les week-ends sur rendez-vous. N'hésitez pas à me contacter, je me ferai un plaisir de vous faire une visite guidée de cette exposition.

Les tableaux sont accrochés, on attend plus que vous dès samedi 28.05 17h...

Contrairement à mes précédentes expositions, il n'y aura cette fois pas d'illustrations réalisées sur iPad et iPhone, retour à l'analogique :) Il s'agit en effet cette fois d'encre de chine, d'acrylique et de techniques mixtes. Cette exposition qui se déroule durant le mois des gémeaux a justement pour thème principal la dualité, un thème que je creuse déjà depuis quelques temps. Un autre thème est consacré au jazz, avec des illustrations de jazzmen jouant dans une unité toute particulière à ce genre musical que j'affectionne particulièrement. Le dernier thème est une série de petites illustrations très structurées et pleines de motifs qui rappellent des gravures. 

Au total, plus d'une trentaine d'oeuvre qui reflètent le travail effectué en 2015-2016, période où j'ai pu m'ouvrir de nouveaux horizons et consacrer plus de temps à affiner ma technique. Une partie de ces travaux ont été postés sur mon Instagram et Facebook mais une grande partie sera à découvrir en exclusivité. 

Portes ouvertes à notre atelier les 16 et 17 avril

Depuis quelques mois, j'ai le grand plaisir de pouvoir travailler dans l'atelier du sculpteur et peintre Didier Guex, qui accueille aussi l'illustrateur Christophe Thomas. C'est une première pour moi que de travailler en atelier et autant dire que je savoure chaque instant passé dans cet endroit des plus inspirants.

Extérieur de l'atelier, pour voir l'intérieur, lisez la suite... (photo: Didier Guex)

Cela me permet de pouvoir travailler sur des tableaux de plus grand format en utilisant des techniques mixtes et de l'encre de chine. L'atelier me permet aussi d'être dans un cadre stimulant, de par les travaux des autres talentueux artistes qui y travaillent. Même si le travail artistique reste individuel, personnel voire solitaire, il est toute fois bénéfique d'avoir une émulation de par ces énergies créatives cumulées. D'un point de vue plus intime, l'atelier me ramène à l'époque où mon père travaillait dans un endroit similaire, dans des odeurs de térébenthine et de peinture à l'huile qui restent gravées à vie. 

Mais bref si je vous raconte tout cela, c'est surtout pour vous annoncer que vous pourrez venir visiter notre atelier ce week end, samedi 16 et dimanche 17, l'après-midi, de 12h à 18h. Une journée portes ouvertes qui s'inscrit dans le cadre de l'APERTI, une association d'artistes lausannois qui organise ce week end d'ouverture des ateliers d'artistes de Lausanne et environs, ce pour la 10ème fois. Didier, Christophe et moi-même nous réjouissons de vous faire découvrir l'atelier et nos dernières créations. Alors rendez-vous à la Pontaise 45... Je vous conseille également de prendre le temps de visiter d'autres ateliers, il y en aura en effet une centaine d'autres à visiter dans tout Lausanne et environs, bande de veinards (nous, on sera de piquet à notre atelier :)

le site web aperti.ch

Ma page sur le site aperti.ch

Spring update: atelier, exhibition, cover artworks etc.

Back to business after a short vacation in Italy.

Since I last posted on this blog, I have been busy with quite a lot of private matters such as my wedding among other small things :) I have also been busy with gregoart related stuff, and I am happy to give you an update of what I've been up to since winter.

'Open atelier' week-end

First of all, please get your calendars and note the week-end of April 16th and 17th. On this week-end, artists from the Lausanne region will open the doors of their ateliers and I am one of them. The open house event for ateliers is organized by APERTI, a very dynamic association of Lausanne artists. Wait, I realize I haven’t told you about my atelier space yet. Since the end of last year I have had the pleasure of working in the atelier of sculptor Didier Guex (actually there are three of us, with illustrator Christophe Thomas). This space has given me the opportunity to work on bigger scale mixed techniques paintings. Please visit us in our atelier at Rue de la Pontaise 45 on the afternoon of Saturday 16th or Sunday 17th. We will be happy to welcome you and show you some of our recent artworks.

Gallery exhibition

Another occasion to see some of my recent artworks will be my next exhibition at the Galerie Iris in Pully. I hope your calendars are still close, so you can save the dates: the inauguration will be on May 27th and the exhibition ends on June 17th. I am very excited to show you brand new artworks. Without giving away too much I can already tell you that they have not been realized on iPad (the «old friends for sale» re-exhibition which ended in February was the last that showcased my iPad drawings). The exhibition at the Galerie Iris, taking place during the month of the gemini, will focus on the theme of duality, a theme I am very fond of.

Cover artworks

Furthermore, I have created cover artworks for two upcoming, great music releases. After the cover artwork for "When crates create", an awesome beat tape on actual tape, I will provide my very first artwork for a vinyl release. It is a jazz soul record produced by Jason McGuiness alias Analog Burners from Los Angeles, one of the artists who did a beat for "When crates create". He enlisted the help of great session players (who had already played with the likes of Aloe Blacc, Kendrick Lamar, D’Angelo and Robert Glasper to name but a few) including the rising trumpet star Keyon Harold who plays Miles Davis' trumpet parts in the forthcoming Miles biopic "Miles Ahead". A 45 vinyl single has already been released through Fat Beats (you can listen to it here) and been reviewed in two of the top music websites/magazines: Wax Poetics and Ego Trip . And spoiler alert: based on the new tracks I have had the pleasure to listen to already I assure you that the rest of the lp sounds just as great .

The second cover artwork will be for my man Ologist, who is into some great projects after his "When Crates Create" beat tape. One of them is a compilation of obscure vinyl records mixed together in the vein of the classic Kon & Amir "On track" breaks and samples mixtapes, with tracks curated by various records collectors from all over the world active on Instagram. Not only will I do the cover artwork for the tape, I will also provide a track for the compilation.

As a vinyl addict, collecting records since the mid-nineties, I cannot tell you how excited I am about these two music releases, and about playing a humble part in their creation.

More gregoart-y stuff

I have always been interested in experimenting and I like the idea that my artwork comes alive in different contexts, on different objects. Some of my characters already appear on t-shirts, and I have designed a few accessories, but the experiment was very limited. Thanks to the internet and partner websites there are so many possibilities to make my artwork accessible that I am currently in the process of creating more diverse objects. Stay tuned!

Limited edition prints

Last but not least, I am also planning to release a limited edition of high-quality prints on the theme of jazz music through Manétiz, an impressive start-up dedicated to providing an original art experience.

As you can see, a lot of great events and releases to come in the near future! And to be sure not to miss any news, you can subscribe to my newsletter using the form on the right of this page.

A week end with old friends

This week-end, I had the pleasure of inaugurating an exhibition of my iPad drawings at "Particules en Suspension" in Lausanne. I named this exhibition "Old friends for sale" as these artworks were created a few of years ago and have been exhibited a couple of times already, in Fribourg as well as in Lausanne. The current exhibition, running until February 6th, is the last time I am showing these illustrations of imaginary characters. Most of these portraits have been drawn in the train, during my daily commute.

Although the people around me on the train have inspired me, the characters depicted are all invented, like imaginary friends. These friends are in the spotlights one last time, before I will center on exhibitions of my newest creations. (done the analog way, as you may have noticed if you follow Gregoart on instagram or on facebook).

You can see some of these iPad paintings on my website, but believe me it's really something else to see the final form of the artwork. The final version of the artwork is a forex print of the original drawing which is - of course - a digital file. I like to think of it as a sort of digital lithography: there are ten prints per drawing, plus one I own (number zero). but it is only a "sort of" lithography because there is no 'physical' original in the traditional sense.

Each exhibition is also a good way of seeing these illustrations in a new context. This time, it is the colorful surrounding of "Particules en Suspension", an artsy giftshop. (It's a coincidence, but I just realize this goes well with my resolution of adding more colors to my art.) For those who cannot make it to Lausanne, I include some pictures from the vernissage.

The exhibition opening week-end has also been a wonderful occasion to meet some old friends who have supported me. These friends were not imaginary but very real, and I want to thank everyone who has come by.

The Crown and Fakir

Spectre is shown behind a window to nowhere.

Artwork Tête d'affiche

Me in front of the "Particules en suspension" window showcasing my artwork Mozaïk.