The duck

Article by Claire-Élise, Jacinthe, Joséphine & Camille:

Without title, Marian BREEDVELD

This oil on canvas is really beautiful. It makes me think of different things. There are different gradients of yellow, with sometimes greenish or orange tints, the thick paint showing the broad brush strokes used, and the thick layers of paint giving a three-dimensional aspect to the canvas. The line in the middle makes me think of the horizon line of a landscape, with maybe a sunset. It also makes me think of the surface of Jupiter, with its great red spot.

Without title, Loredana SPERINI

I find the two works of art by SPERINI very interesting. I enjoy the way the wax has been layered, creating some stunning colour gradients. They look like stained glass, with the light coming through, even though there is cement behind the wax.

Without title, Marc DEVADE

This painting is in two parts. It has an 'H' shape cut in two horizontally. The top one has purple edges and is between blue and black in the middle. It's the opposite on the lower part. I think it could represent hell and heaven ; hell is at the bottom, and heaven at the top. It makes a contrast with the colors which symbolise the opposition between these two worlds: good and evil. So, I really like this painting because it's a good interpretation of what happens after death: heaven or hell?

Balls and Tunnels, Valérie FAVRE

''Balls and Tunnels'' is like a "bomb" of every color. It is as if the picture was attacked by an army of colors. I think that they are coming together to colour this black picture and make people happy to see millions of united colors.

Eidétique paressante, Al MARTIN

This work's title describes it well: an eidetique image is the "revival" of a perception after a latent period. Al MARTIN took 365 days to finish this work. The artist has hollowed out the layers of paint in places; this symbolises perhaps time passing and the fastidious artistic process.

Article by Emma, Manon, Tristan, Rémi & Sylvain:

The painting by Marion BREEDWELD contrasts with the one by Marc DEVADE. In yellows, oranges and reds, it reminds us of a sunset or the colours of the leaves in autumn. It is warm and comforting. The artist has painted his work of art on the surface and on the sides of the canvas. The horizontal lines look like wooden planks illuminated by the sun.

The two works of art by Loredana SPERINI are made of cement and wax. The coloured wax rectangles and triangles capture the light like stained glass.

The ink painting by Marc DEVADE, in different shades of blue, is pretty big, and looks like a door that has the bottom and the top inverted. It looks like a door into darkness. The atmosphere is dark and sinister and this feeling is accentuated by the effect produced by the ink.

The work by Valérie FAVRE is like a garden, with lots of flowers of different colours. This painting inspires us, make us feel happy and free, and the contrast between the colours can remind us of the four seasons of the year. The colours blend into each other.

The painting by the French artist Al MARTIN is very special; it was made over an entire year. He has superimposed 365 layers of paint, one on each day of the year. Then he hollowed out shapes into the layers and produced circles of colours that look like shells and butterflies. We have not really understood the meaning of this painting or the aim of the artist, but a work of art doesn't always need to be understood…

Article by Pauline, Lucie, Camille & Auriane:

“Without title,” from 1997, by Marion BREEDVELD, is a little painting made of several thick layers of paint. We see the marks left by the brushstrokes from left to right. The artist wanted to show us the mix of colours.

The two paintings both named “Without title,” from 2014, by Loredona SPERINI, are made of concrete and wax. The base is a rectangle of concrete and above this, there are various geometric shapes made of thick coloured wax that change shade according to the light.

“Without title,” from 1976, by Marc DEVADE, is very special because the painter has used ink to paint all over the canvas and so it is very dark. We didn’t understand the message of this work.

“Balls and Tunnels,” from 1996, by Valérie FAVRE, is rather big. It shows a kind of galaxy.

“Eidétique paressante,” from 2010, by Al MARTIN, is a little work with 365 shades of paint. The artist added a new layer of paint each day and, at the end of the year, he dug shapes into it to show the different layers.

The theme of this exhibition is colour and the passing of time.

Article by Elvire:

The six works of art that make up the tiny exhibition entitled “Le geste de la couleur” seem to echo each other…

The first one on the left as you walk in to the gallery is composed of two canvases. In the top canvas, there is a dark rectangle; its reflection is in the lower canvas. It is an ink painting. It is like a very dark aurora borealis, a sort of light in darkness. In this painting there is an echo between the top and the bottom.

Then, on the next wall, we have two small very thick rectangles made of a mix of unusual materials: various-coloured wax and light grey cement.

On the opposite wall, we have a painting by AI MARTIN. There are plenty of colours. It’s a sort of landscape. It seems to be a lake, with hills, like a map. It is meticulously done. This work was done in one year; it required a lot of patience. Every day the painter added a layer and in the end he scraped parts of the layers off. It is an echo to the two little squares opposite.

Beside MARTIN’s work, there is a bright yellow painting also made of several layers of paint. These are very thick, giving “depth” to the work. The layers are applied horizontally. There seems to be an echo with the first works because there is a contrast between the colours.

The last painting is composed of many spots of cold and warm colours. It is messy, there is no apparent order in contrast to the other works; it is like galaxies being absorbed into a black hole.

Article by Clothilde, Perrine, Auguste & Maxime:

The exhibition “Le geste de la couleur” has just six works of art. There is nonetheless an echo between all these works.

The first one is composed of two parts, at the top, we have a green rectangle, and below it is the opposite like a reflexion. It is like a dark aurora borealis, like a light in darkness.

The second is a pair of very thick quite small rectangles made of cement and variously coloured wax.

Then, we have a sort of colourful landscape, a kind of map with lakes and hills. This work was done over one year; it required a lot of patience. The painter, Al Martin, added a layer of paint every day and at the end he scraped some layers off to create the 3D effect.

The next painting was done by a woman with a lot of creativity. It is also very meticulous and composed of several thick layers of mostly yellow paint, spread horizontally. It looks like a detail of a Van Gogh painting seen through a microscope.

The last work was made by a woman too. There are many spots and splashes of various colours, both cold and warm. There is no apparent order and it is wonderfully and mysteriously messy.

The enigmatic works in this exhibition represent movement (as captured by the artists’ gestures, i.e. the brush strokes captured in the paint) and so perhaps the passing of time. All the works are meticulously done and the colours reflect the light when they are bright, or absorb it when they are opaque (light and dark, day and night; again the passing of time…).

Article by Evie, Florane, Alice, Jules & Arthur:

The art exhibition of six works from the FRAC collection we visited in Sainte-Marie was called “Le geste de la couleur” (“The Gesture of Colour”).

On the right as we walked in to the exhibition space there were two abstract pieces by Loredana Sperini: quite small, very thick rectangles made of coloured wax shapes imbedded in light grey cement. The surface was smooth. The colours changed according to the intensity of the light.

The top half of the large dark ink diptych echoed its lower part. By its size and sombre mood, it contrasted with the other works.

The colourful “landscape” by Al Martin was meticulously done. It took 365 days to make; every day he added a layer of paint.

There was an echo of Martin’s piece in the yellow Van Gogh-like work next it, in the intense use of colour and multiple layers of paint.

The last painting was alive and joyful with many colours, both cold and warm. It reminded us of a pond swarming with plants and splodgy creatures (or of an unknown galaxy)…