Huile sur toile

By Kelly Haddad – First Luxe Signature

" It’s Cholet ààgrave; the west of France, that the Viviane Henwood gallery opens its doors to us. Since 1988, it has presented paintings and sculptures by international contemporary artists. The opportunity to zoom in on Christian Labelle, painter.

“Hanging on nature corresponds with my philosophy”, tells us Christian Labelle, a hyperrealist painter who brilliantly develops a universe that flourishes around still life, prestigious wines and floral scents. Self-taught, he began his career. presented his paintings in the 80s and quickly felt called to work. by what would become his signature: “One day, I painted an ordinary wine bottle that I submitted to the artist. a sommelier. He recommended me to repeat for models of the great vintages: I followed this precious advice, opening up a new category of living art.

Fruits, pottery, flowers, books, the smallest details are described in detail. wonder reality things that surround us. He takes care of the flowers himself before painting them, thus transferring his love, straight from nature to nature. the Web. The nuances, transparencies, shadows and play of light allow the establishment of a secret dialogue between the artist and the painted object. He succeeds in transfer onto the canvas the sparkle of glass or the velvety texture of flower petals, in an astonishing way. Elegant and refined, Christian Labelle's technique makes his painting so realistic that it becomes disturbing. "

By Thibaud JOSSERT - Universe of arts 2011

The new month of Caesar is shaping up to be a beautiful month. There we will find with excitement the heart of summer, its perfumes and its flavors. As if to tempt us more than we already are. the thought of the summer period, Christian Labelle invites us to admire his work throughout the month of July.

A talented painter, Christian Labelle could be part of what, with hindsight, History will uneasily call the realism of the 21st century. His work is characterized by by his incredible aptitude for reproduce reality in its smallest details, veins of fruit ready to be eaten. burst into the shadows of the delicate folds of petals, the almost iridescent shine, so real that they seem unreal in their sumptuousness. There is no doubt that photography is losing its superb contemporary style!

à The new month of Caesar is shaping up to be a beautiful month. There we will find with excitement the heart of summer, its perfumes and its flavors. As if to tempt us more than we already are. your thoughts on the summer period, Christian Labelle invites us to admire his work throughout the month of July.

But the artist also proves to be ingenious in his compositions, in his staging: creator of still lifes, his way of creating them mixing the elements and associating them - or confronting them - with each other can only evoke the ancient masters of the genre, of the Renaissance and the Grand Siecle who had learned to juggle so wonderfully with shapes and symbols, combine impeccable aesthetics with modernity. pure intellectual concepts... This is how we approach things. dream of kitchens and living rooms with forgotten secrets while making us - very easily - caught up in a world of objects, however two-dimensional, with our only companions our abused senses to which, we suppose with a touch of concern, the painter addresses some mocking gesture, not without a touch of compassion for the primitive mechanisms of the human mind.

The artist also knows - and in a very surprising way - how to play with variations of hues to create atmospheres and change universes, change places and environments. 39; period, social environment and imagination. Brightness is never the same and always comes to rest on the subject of the painting with a disconcerting naturalness. The funds and backgrounds to be used they alone manage to achieve this. Arouse in the viewer memories of past sensations, experienced or imagined through reading or contemplation, already making a difference. penetrate into a very particular mental universe.

It has sometimes been said that the true artist is the one who knows how to make the veil separating reality so thin. of the dream that we come to hold them as one. Through the alliance of impeccable mastery and emotionality, that we don't expect, Christian Labelle knows how to achieve it.