As every year, it is the church of Saint-Pierre d’Arène that will host the traditional Artists’ Mass under the authority of Brother Yves-Marie Lequin°, diocesan chaplain and member of the sacred art commission.
This event will take place on January 3 starting at 6:30 pm and will be preceded, at 6:00 pm, by a musical offering (piano and Bach’s chaconne for solo violin) while at the end, around 7:00 pm, there will be an opening with small bowls of rice and champagne.
About fifty artists (painters, sculptors, musicians, opera singers, puppeteers) will take over the church of Saint-Pierre d’Arène for an original mass whose tradition dates back to 1926 (“Willette’s Vow”). He was a caricaturist painter and founder of the Chat Noir cabaret in Montmartre. He wished that on the occasion of the Ash Wednesday mass, artists from around the world would gather to demonstrate their solidarity, share their experiences, and their commitment.
This year is the year of “large formats” (a large canvas by Patrick Moya occupying the entire choir of the church, a row of paintings in the central nave, sculptures, installation…).
Music will not be left out with the use of an electronic instrument with amazing capabilities (electone played by Stéphane Eliot), great arias from the classical opera repertoire, Liszt on piano, a gospel choir, and Natacha Triadou’s violin.
Last year’s success (nearly nine hundred people for the mass and the following exhibition opening) has made this national tradition, highly respected in Nice, a now essential event of regional artistic activity. Moreover, under the impetus of the chaplain of the artists, Brother Yves-Marie Lequin, and the will of the participating artists, the event has far exceeded what is done elsewhere, both by the public (the exhibition received more than two thousand visitors) and by the number of participants.
There will also be the solemn reading of Willette’s prayer, “the prayer of those who greet you Lord, those who have meditated on your Work and paid tribute to its Beauty…”
This traditional reading will be done this year by Jean Mas, who will follow it with a performance. Two days before, he will have installed a “FOR SALE” sign on the church (which will remain there for the duration of the exhibition)!
Those attending the Ash Wednesday mass will be able to see and hear about fifty works, most of them created especially for this event.
