With patience and skill, the artist created his drawings—or are they photos? The illusion is perfect. We then remember those leads, those school pencils ‘H’ ‘HB’ or ‘B’. The more or less greasy lead allowed one to shade a shadow or, on the contrary, to emphasize it. Alain Lestié works with leads of a different kind than those pencils from our childhood. His works are black and white paintings. Exhibition at Galerie Depardieu (18 avenue des Fleurs, Nice) from November 2 to 30, 2013.
The artist starts with a blank sheet and, using a range of tones through all the grays, succeeds in achieving absolute black to create paintings where the most diverse objects take shape. Around twenty of these works have been gathered and are presented at Galerie Depardieu.
They invite us to imagine, to dream, to poetize. Isn’t every artist also a poet? Among the works exhibited on the walls: ‘Route nocturne’ a beam lights up this path, is it the moon or the beams of car headlights? ‘Un air du large’ with this sailboat sailing on a black sea on a moonless night, only the white sail illuminates the painting.
‘Être ici’ a circle in which to find oneself, the center of a labyrinth or a meeting point? ‘Entrée’ this wooden door with its veins and knots. Is it a photo, asks a lady? One can really wonder in front of the precision of the details. No, pencil strokes, an unknown man replies to her.
They are indeed pencil strokes, Alain Lestié uses his pencils like an engraver uses a chisel. The line is perfect with meticulous detail. There is also ‘Attente’ and also… But it’s better to come discover this exhibition and conclude with Raphael Monticelli: “Here is a painting that questions the subject.”
Alain Lestié is a painter whose palette is composed of pencils, a painter with pencil strokes. This exhibition continues throughout the month of November at the Galerie Depardieu. An event not to be missed.
Thierry Jan
