Khaled Youssef, well-known to you by the bubbles had prepared for a report of an impressive exhibition that took place at Galerie Des Dominicans.
WHAT: Vernissage "Ex-voto"
WHEN: Thursday 3 December 2015
WHERE: Galerie Des Dominicains, Vieux Nice
9 rue Saint François de Paule.
'La Galerie des Dominicains' is an original venue in Nice situated in the heart of the old town next to the wonderful opera.
The art gallery offered artists a platform for visibility and exposure to the delight of the art lovers and visitors of the city. This time owing to the "Ex-voto" exhibition, it had become even more special a venue.
What is an ex-voto? In connection with religions, an ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to a divinity. It is a peculiar object such as an image, a painting or other smaller artefact that is given in fulfilment of a vow or in gratitude or devotion.
An ex-voto is in reality a message saying 'thank you' or 'please' or even 'these are my hopes and feelings now'. However here in the exhibition the definition of ex-voto will be free of any religious conceptions since considered to be a daily theme of human empowerment.
Each day of our lives we happen to address a great number of ex-votos ̶ like for instance shaking hands, giving a kiss, hugging someone, exchanging a smile, inviting friends for dinner and sharing laughter, giving help or assistance, sharing emotions or showing compassion.
photo: @hello_tanja
"All of this is a kind of a votive offering to show gratitude and empathy or to express hope", says Daniel Airam, the organiser of the event.
Daniel is an artist residing in Nice ̶ his art is known to be a unification of styles, materials and historical periods. He took the initiative in calling all artists from the French Riviera for a group exhibition at 'La Galerie des Dominicains'. The exhibition gave the artists the unique opportunity to unfold their emotions and feelings and to showcase their works in a vibrant exhibit and arrangement. The artworks had the same dimensions and prerequisites for each artist ̶ meanwhile each one of these art-boxes revealed a slightly different artistic dimension, symbolic and vision. We have discovered, owing to the talent and creativity of the participating artists, how art can describe so many various kinds of things inside a restraint space such as those tiny art-boxes measuring 35 x 25 x 12 cm.
Photographer: Ludovic Mauriat
"I wanted in some way unravel the artists' ego and erase individualism in encouraging artists to exhibit their art together. Knowing that true artists are confident about their art and generous at heart, the basic idea is to gather their energy in a collective exhibition, and to create a sense of unity and even realignment. Each artwork is identical in form and size, yet inside each one of them to be found will be a microcosm of manifold souls expressing their hopes", says Daniel.
55 regional artists, 55 different artistic styles, ages and lives had been exhorted to reveal a part of their intimacy while creating a huge wall of unified art such as a puzzle of souls, and telling a story about their feelings or even about a collective theme like society or ecology.
Art is created to be shared and appreciated by everyone.
The exhibition was a singular experience to live, in discovering not only the art of the artists from the French Riviera but also and particularly the artists themselves united in a single artistic soul, such as 55 streams merging together to form an ocean of creation.
Artists:
Daniel Airam, Patrick Schumacher, Michel Schumacher, Nivèse, Alexandre Prieur, Jean-marc Paubel, Lionel Bouffier Lionel, Jo Guichou, Nasica, Marianne. K Heroy, Marie-France Chevallier, Gérald Thupinier, Jean-François Gaulthier (Saint-Paul De Vence Jfg), Jacques Renoir, Agnan Kroichvili, Dominique Zoladz, Lucie Lehair, Steve Steve Morphèe, Annie Bianca Montoya, Elsa Djelidi, Isabelle Gillot, Félix Macri', Bernard Hejblum, Henri Amar, Thierry Desouche, Valérie Cheno, Yves Marie Lequin, Michel Anthony, René Galassi, Eric Caligaris, Khaled Youssef, Nathalie Verdier, Robert Roux, Jean Paul Fouques, Béatrice De Domenico, François Kern, Elizabeth Foyé, Richard Roux, Luis Lison de Loma, Pascale Dieleman, Virginie de Saint-Méard, Gilles Kat, Svetà Marlier, Christine Cotinaud, Josianne Ksara, Jean-Pierre Girard, Estelle Giauffer, Claudine Dupeyron, Anne-Marie Anne Marie Perraudin, Christof Morris, Ludovic Mauriat, Christian Ferroni, Mr One Teas, Ioan Léveillé, F. Diana
Organisers:
Daniel Airam
Patrick Schumacher
Yves-marie Lequin"