Solo show
Opening
Thursday 01 February 2024
From February 1st to March 23rd, 2024, Galerie La Forest Divonne presents an exhibition of recent works by Guy de Malherbe.
Most of Guy de Malherbe’s paintings are inspired by the mineral world of maritime shores. These mineral landscapes, which at first glance seem to belong to untouched nature, nevertheless emanate a disconcerting feeling. Isn’t the shoreline, the boundary between ocean and land, the very place where we become acutely aware of the threats facing living things ? The shore is also the land of dreams, where anything is possible. The place where the solid and liquid worlds meet, the known and the unknown, the bearer of imagination and mystery.
During his travels – to the Normandy coast, to Cadaqués in Catalonia, or more recently to Menorca or Argentina, his mother’s native country – Guy de Malherbe has produced many small, vividly executed square oil canvases on the spot. This first work painted in situ enabled the artist to immerse himself in the universe of shapes and colors of these very special places. Following a trip to Patagonia in the far south of Argentina, the intense, unreal blues of the icebergs drifting from the Perito Moreno glacier suddenly burst onto the palette of this great colorist.
It is on the basis of this on-the-spot work that the artist creates medium- and large-format paintings in his studio. The same process is at work when he tackles familiar yet enigmatic subjects such as oysters and artichokes, which will also be featured in the exhibition.
The paintings executed on the motif are part of a certain landscape tradition, while the interpretative paintings done in the studio relegate the initial theme to the background, leaving all the room for the free language of painting: shapes, color and matter, thus becoming «pictorial objects»…
This exhibition is part of a very busy 2024 schedule for the artist: the gallery will be presenting Guy de Malherbe’s work at Art Paris, Expo Chicago and Art Brussels. Finally, from the beginning of July to the end of September, the Grand Manège de Vendôme will devote a monographic exhibition to him, featuring over 150 paintings.
Guy de Malherbe is represented by La Forest Divonne gallery in France and Belgium and Dittesheim – Maffei gallery in Switzerland.
