The Ferrero Gallery on Rue du Congrès in Nice, known to all art enthusiasts, is more of a museum than a gallery. There, you can find artists from the Nice school; some love them, others do not, and that’s great because these letter duels between enthusiasts enrich the debate.
Thus, the public can discover painters, sculptors, or visual artists through large display windows. The gallery has an annex located a few steps up on this street named in honor of a congress that never took place. Temporary exhibitions are organized there with the same spirit in the selection of artists. The current exhibition is dedicated to Jean Mas, an artist with a capital ‘A’.
An artist is a provocateur or aesthete, and often both at once, making it unnecessary to define Jean Mas. Through this exhibition, one discovers an unusual and very eclectic Jean Mas. Among other things, you will notice: The fly cages, flies neatly lined up in their small multicolored cages. Theatre lovers will likely recall Jean-Paul Sartre’s play. These variously sized and multicolored coasters occupy a significant place in the room. There are drawings, drawing boards, resembling a sketch of a future comic book!
Jean Mas, a bit like Moya, invites us into his universe, a world free from the dross of artificial appearances, a preserved space where children would be kings. Aren’t we all children whose toys vary with age? This exhibition is a beautiful tribute to an artist from the Nice school. It will mark an epoch, and the opening confirmed this impression with the many people who came to admire, discover, rediscover, or greet Jean Mas, a friend of beauty lovers.
This exhibition, assembling the works of an artist, making a selection, all this is a painstaking work to appreciate and respect. A very beautiful gift from the gallery owner to the people of Nice, it would be a shame to disdain it.
Thierry Jan
Photo credit: https://www.galerieferrero.com
