Renowned French artists paint a ‘Wall of Art’ at Hotel Mercure | THE DAILY HERALD

MARIGOT–A group of acclaimed French artists are currently staying at Hotel Mercure, Baie Nettle, for a project to beautify the hotel perimeter wall while introducing their individual and innovative styles to give a much-needed splash of colour to post-Irma St. Martin.

  The 11 artists from Cercle des Arts de Sète are here on the invitation of Hotel Mercure owner Baki Arbia, himself an avid art lover. Sète, a maritime port on a promontory in the south of France near Montpellier, is a thriving mecca for the “new wave” of French artists. The group is also here with their art collector-agent and representative, the President and Founder of Cercle des Arts de Sète, Christian Jurand.

  “These guys grew up together, started painting together and now all live in Sète,” Arbia explained. “The most famous one not here is Robert Combas, a big star in France, whose work sells sometimes for close to a million euros. I have been buying art from these artists for about 20 years and that’s why they accepted my invitation to come here for a week. They are painting the wall and each artist has one painting on it.

  “I’m lucky they are my friends. They knew what we went through with Irma and they agreed to come here to lift our spirits with beautiful art. Next month Los Angeles has invited them to give a fresh makeover to an old building that will be turned into a museum.”

  The artists are Sliman Ismaili Alaoui, Philippe Loubat, Andre Cevera, Marc Duran, Aldo Biascamano, Christophe Consentino, Frederique Perimon, Jean-Jacques Francois, Lucas Mancione and Julia Collaro.

  This coming Friday the artists will be featuring two or three of their own pieces in an opening exhibition at L’Escale des Iles, the art gallery on the Marigot waterfront located opposite the coconut man and lolos. All of the visiting artists will be present from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. It will be a chance for the public to meet them in person, discuss art and if so inclined to buy an art work.

  Christian Jurand said he wanted “to create a cultural and artistic bridge between Sète and St. Martin.” He added Sète artists are now known worldwide, hence the invitations to hold exhibitions in different countries and banks are seeing the value of economic investment in their art. And the Ecole de Sète is the only art school in France that promotes the expression of figuration libre, he said.

  The Director of the art gallery L’Escale des Iles, Anna Anupama, explained the gallery which is the last remaining fisherman’s house in Marigot was badly damaged during Irma and Friday is a re-opening. Anupama, Pierre Aliotti and Baki Arbia are partners in the gallery.

  “Baki offered to help renovate the gallery and that’s how he became a partner. In the past the gallery was only showing local art, but now it’s taking on an international dimension with these Sète artists,” she added. “Christian Jurand loves this island and he has a large collection of art. He wanted the artists to come here to lift our spirits. The wall of art and the art gallery both happened at the same time. The gallery will still have a room for the local artists to exhibit their work.”

  She noted the gallery’s name will be changed to Cercle des Arts et de la Culture, St. Martin. The public is encouraged to come out to the gallery opening on Friday evening.

Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/83299-renowned-french-artists-paint-a-wall-of-art-at-hotel-mercure

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