Artists: Raoul THOUVENIN; Romuald AVET; Guillaume Chocu Yaume. C; Natalia Grigorieva; Françoise HUBERT; Paule Pariente; Ghislaine LEGRAND; Patricia Jollivet; Alberto García; M.T. BLOEMEN; Kei NAKANO; Françoise Icart
"... The exhibition opened to a large audience in the presence of Mayor Alalparado Valdeolmos and Alberto García, responsible for culture.
He presented all of ARTEC's activities and recalled that the association had exhibited works all over the world, from Lithuania to Japan, before they came to France and finally to Spain for the Franco-Spanish Autumn Salon.
After praising ARTEC's international activities, Alberto Garcia presented his photographic technique, which consists of shooting directly into the sun, something that only a few artists, such as Claude Jelle, known as Lorren, have been able to achieve.
After his presentation, Françoise Icart briefly introduced the artists present, noting the originality of the works on display.
After the speeches, we enjoyed a guitar and singing concert, followed by a magnificent buffet provided by the municipality.
Visitors approached us to ask about the powerful and intriguing realistic works of Natalia Grigorieva, who used digital technology to alter one of her paintings.
Overall, the works not only attracted the attention of the public, but also aroused great interest, which was reflected in numerous comments.
Raul Tuvenen attracted attention and received enthusiastic reviews from several visitors for his work, which resembles the works of Sulage. I noticed that it is more reminiscent of Sulage's early paintings, when he still used colour. The light emanating from Raoul Tuvenen's canvas was unanimously approved.
Patricia Jollivet amused everyone by not knowing how to express herself in Spanish, imitating a bird and making "cuckoo" sounds to explain one of her paintings.
M. T. Blomen raised questions with his series of diamond-shaped canvases entitled "Cow with Spots". The connection with cow's wool was not immediately obvious, so it was the material, crumpled paper, and the composition that attracted attention first and foremost.
Romuald Avet's photographs raised questions about technique, namely whether they were photographs taken from life or retouched photographs. These original, unretouched photographs of the Venetian carnival and mysterious scenes attracted attention.
The technique used for Françoise Hubert's bas-reliefs remained a mystery, because although we could all see that the material was solid – concrete, stone, earth... – no one knew exactly how the artist had achieved the relief that created the illusion of such different structures as wood or stylised trees.
It was the lightness of the gestures that made me say "I like it" when looking at the deep blue canvases and gestures reminiscent of flight in the works of Gishlaine Legrand.
Kei Nakano and Guillaume Chocu – Yaume C. shared a wall with canvases of similar sizes, so visitors needed to be clearly informed that these were two very different artists, one living in Japan and the other in Paris. These two artists have a similar vision of the world, which is expressed in the simplicity of lines that convey different universes.
Yaume-C decided to depict waxed canvases, which is a difficult task but produces bright colours, while Kei Nakano reduced the colours to black and white to depict spring.
In conclusion, I would like to say a few words about the originality and boldness of the work of ARTEC President Paula Parriente, who managed to give her canvas the necessary liveliness, creating a bright and energetic work.
Overall, the audience came to appreciate and comment on the works, and Natalia Grigorieva's painting "France" was there to confirm our arrival in Spain...
Françoise Icart
