Alfredo Volpi at the NMNM in Monaco
9 February – 20 May
Brazilian artist Alfredo Volpi’s exhibition marks an important milestone at the New National Museum of Monaco. A Brazilian artist has never been shown in Europe and the event was made possible thanks to the links that the NMNM has created with international institutions and private collectors.
This first retrospective aims to trace the career of this important artist, who poetized and animated the two-dimensional space so characteristic of modernism. More than 70 pieces will be presented, from his first oils on canvas in the 1930s and 40s; to his work from the 1950s to 1970s, in which Volpi introduced a new palette of colours and techniques inspired by the Italian Renaissance. The unique and independent vision of Volpi has raised him to the rank of modernist legend in Brazil.
Quentin Derouet at the Helenbeck Gallery in Nice
Until 2 June
“South of the clouds” is the title of the exhibition but also the translation of the Yunnan province in Southern China, where painter Quentin Derouet was in residence. He settled at the largest producer of roses in Asia and came back with delicate paintings — strange, yet captivating.
Derouet returns to Helenbeck Gallery, which has been following his work since he left art school at Villa Arson, already distinguished as a gifted artist.
Derouet immediately took to the rose. The queen of flowers with strong symbolism inspired his refined works. Ever on the lookout for the most important traces, the purest deliquescence, the juiciest petals, the poetic painter gets his colour from the flowers. The blood red petals give way to a powerful purple when they are bruised. When burnt, they leave brown threads…
Lee Bae at the Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul-de-Vence
24 March – 17 June
“Plus de lumière”, or More Light, is the title of the spring exhibition at the Maeght. Lee Bae is one of the greatest Korean artists of our time and lives and works in Paris. His work is built around subtle blends inherited from Western abstract art just as the arte povera also draws on the traditional artistic codes and practices of Korean culture. He finds the Foundation a suitable setting. He expresses the idea of nature by using fire, charcoal, and burnt wood, but also incorporates the action of man and his capacity to transform matter.
Lee Bae uses black forms, white backgrounds, shadow and light to draw an interior landscape where elements are the philosophical expression of a certain relationship to the world. Poetry, reflection, strength and vitality come together into a fascinating universe.
Raymond Depardon at the Lympia Gallery in Nice
1 March to 30 June
One of the stars of contemporary photography is investing in the Galerie Lympia in Nice. A surprising and magical place since it is an old prison dating from the 18th century, and recently become a cultural space of the first order. A stop on the «Traverser» tour, Raymond Depardon chose the gallery to exhibit sixty years of his photographs. Originally from Villefranche-sur-Saône, a return to his homeland is constant and inevitable for the artist, who has seen it grow from Paris, his land of adoption. The area is a strong anchor point between his constant travels, as his incessant round trips have made him a sort of expat from the inside.
The exhibition presents a hundred prints, texts and documents by the artist, showcasing an exceptional testimony.
