The French May Arts Festival is still ongoing this year, with more galleries launching collaborative exhibitions with the organizers to showcase the charm of French art. Blanc Gallery recently presented a joint exhibition featuring French artists Clément Denis, Fabien Verschaere, and Japanese artist Karen Shiozawa, showcasing a series of acrylic, oil, and watercolor paintings that range from abstract to figurative, demonstrating how they interpret the world and explore the value of identity.
Clément Denis often expresses his exploration of humanity through diverse works such as mosaics and paintings, so he often uses personal portraits as subjects, hoping to share his own life experiences with others through his creations. His works have evolved from dark and rich scenes in the past to expansive works with winding lines and bright, acidic colors.
During the outbreak of the epidemic last year, the lockdown in the city brought him to the island of Nouvelle-Musée, inspiring him to create a new series “The River Song”. In his dream, Denis saw his home and the island being swallowed by water, with only treetops and rooftops visible. The artist often paints the flow of water, always feeling that water will absorb us in some way, reflecting on climate change and its impact on nature, as well as the dilemma faced by humanity in the face of disasters.
Fabien Verschaere’s creative focus is closely related to exploring the human condition, as he spent his childhood in the hospital due to a long-term illness. Surrounded by disease and loneliness during those days, he became interested in the contrasts between life and death, beauty and rejection. The artist constructs circuses, fairy tales, comics, and more in his imaginary world, inviting viewers to examine reality from a perspective of an imagined world. In addition to his frequent creations in watercolor, sketches, paintings, installations, and films, Verschaere has recently been experimenting with painting on wood and ceramics.
Karen Enosawa depicts an endless galaxy in his work, constantly seeking to expand the realm of communication through acrylic, oil paint, alkyd resin, and wood panels. Growing up in the Netherlands, Enosawa’s work contains European elements such as wooden windmills, classical arches, and church spires in its lines and compositions. The artist slowly scrapes off paint with tools of different sizes to present scenes that appear almost real. Enosawa expresses a desire for his creations to capture the inner voices in the real world that often go unnoticed.
“Contrast Collection”
Date: From now until June 30, 2022 (Sunday, closed on Monday)
Time: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Location: White Stone Gallery, 7-8/F, H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong
Image source and learn more: Whitestone Gallery
