For two days we – Alexis Poline, Mathieu Julien, Obisk and I – metro’ed to Saint Ouen, suburb of Paris, to paint the walls of Henri Groues (homeless shelter)’s communal space. From outside, you would never guess what is on the other side of the wall – a cosy enclosed hang out space with flowers and a vegetable garden. I hope we gave a little more color and happiness to the space : )
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Last Friday, I took a bus to Brussels. After four long hours, chatting with a friendly Senegalese man who sat next to me (he started the conversation with “Senegal is love peace and harmony”), I arrived at Salon Mirage – a three day edition/book/zine festival.
Mattie (now my husband since a few weeks ago <3) was invited for a group exhibition during the festival along with Quentin Chambry, Alexis Poline and Adrien Frégosi. All four of them live in different cities (Paris, Rennes, Angers, Sète), so they arrived in Brussels a week before the exhibition opening to produce all the works under the same roof.
Mattie didn’t send me any photos during the week of the production, and I didn’t really ask for them. Mattie’s last few exhibitions were with me, so I was looking forward to be surprised by what he would produce with other guys.
When I walked up to the gallery space which was a floor above the book fair, Senegalese man’s words on the bus came to my mind – “love peace and harmony!” A group exhibition could often be chaotic or divided, but instead, I found the show otherwise. Also, even though I know everyone’s work really well – especially Mattie, Quentin and Alexis’ works – their choice of collaborating made the works new and surprising.
Quentin painted these series with diluted ink off of a carbon paper.
Mattie made the base print using smeared offset printing ink, then together with Quentin and Alexis, they painted on top with ink and oil sticks.
Alexis usual giant canvases, but with unusual brush strokes and color combination.
Drew by Quentin and colored by Alexis. One of my favorite pieces.
Mattie’s paper cut out series, which surprised me the most, using feather light papers and staples. They hung loosely by yarns, almost floating and beautifully backlit by the window behind them.
The book festival was equally great – cozy atmosphere, friendly people, admirable zines (I will share them in future posts), satisfying croque-monsieur served at the bar. You can check out the photos of the festival here (French).
It was a short trip, and we took the train back to Paris on Sunday. As we were walking to the train station, I would not stop talking about Belgium french fries and american filet (my must eats in Belgium) which we didn’t have time to eat and wished I had a few more hours in Brussels. Well, next time : )
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PREMIER RECARD
Group exhibition at Salon Mirage (Brussels, Belgium)
Quentin Chambry, Alexis Poline, Adrien Frégosi, Mathieu Julien
15, 16, 17 September, 2017
Alexis Poline aka Soir made a fanzine with Éditions Peinture, and it’s appropriately titled <SOIR>. It’s printed with a spirit duplicator – an obsolete printing method which Éditions Peinture brought back to make an ongoing series of artist fanzines.
Drawings in Alexis’ fanzine derived from his small sketches (and notes) in his small sketchbook which he carries around everywhere (as it also functions as his wallet where he keeps his ATM card, shhhhh). So looking through the fanzine <SOIR> is as if you are looking into his private sketchbook, meaning it’s definitely worth a look and every penny ; )
Two extra notes –
One, Alexis Poline’s crew <Les Trois Clémentines> with Guillaume Pellay and Quentin Chambry is currently having an exhibition at Raum Vollreinigung in Berlin. I would definitely go if I were you ; )
Two, yes, I’m wearing a ski onesie in these photos. It has been that cold in my house.
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www.editionspeinture.com/product/soir-alexis-poline
Last week, a good friend Alexis Poline came to Paris and stayed with us for a couple of days, which reminded me of the time Mattie and I visited him in Angers earlier this year to see his exhibition. His home was filled with paintings, drawings, prints, books and things, which Alexis loved and is a big fan of. They felt sincere and personal.
Between visiting his exhibition, hanging out in town and painting in Angers, one night at his place was just not enough to admire his collections.
Follow Alexis on his Flickr, Instagram and his blog Deep Sea Adventures ; )
Alexis Poline is a friend, an artist, a member of Moderne Jazz, who practices judo (seriously), swims and lives in Angers. Alexis’ love for his town is great, and he invited me and Mattie many times over, but never got around to it until this day on May 15. This day was the opening of his solo exhibition in Angers, a perfect occasion to visit him unannounced and surprise him.
Although Alexis didn’t look so surprised when we arrived (did we surprise you Alexis? hehe), I was surprised with his canvases. Even though I already knew his work pretty well, I never had the occasion to see his large format canvas in person. Standing there, looking at his three giant paintings. levitating away from the walls, I wished I lived in a huge house and had lots of money to buy all three of them. Well, maybe one day.
The exhibition was titled <Histoire Courte d’un Paysage>, and it finished on May 22. But you can follow and see more of Alexis’ works on his Flickr, his fairly new Instagram and his collection of inspiring images on his blog Deep Sea Adventures.
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Histoire Courte d’un Paysage
Alexis Poline
La Serre, 69 bd Boselli Angers
May 15 – May 22, 2016