Exposition: Laurie Fox PESSEMIER
at the
Petit Lux
29 rue Vaugirard
75006 Paris
July, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Market Scene Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 24 x 15 inches 61 x 38 cm SOLD
Fisherman Dieppe Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 5.5 x 12 inches 14 x 30 cmSOLD
Pier Dieppe Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 9.5 x 14 inches 23 x 34 cm
Ship Dieppe Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 20 x 5 inches 50 x 13 cm
Hanging out at the port Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on canvas 14 x 9.5 inches 34 x 23 cm.
.
DISCOVERY
“Please close door after entering,” the sign read. We stepped into a room where we could hear people talking and see at least one painting on the wall. Otherwise, it was a room full of smoke. One could barely see the person one entered with. I was immediately reminded of a Sherlock Holmes episode: obscured.
Another building, from medieval times, had several video installations: no screening room necessary as we stumbled down a dark, circular ramp. We saw sculptures and fresco, prints and paintings, performance art and videos. It was the final exhibit at the Paris school of Beaux Arts.
I can’t believe I’ve lived here this long and never gone there – it was a giant complex of classic buildings and spaces chock full of new ideas. It changed my attitude toward art.
We went because I hired a woman to help me translate some furniture descriptions into French. She is an architectural student at the school and suggested we visit. It was terrific!
It’s been a long hot week here in Paris – our sixth floor view apartment with seven windows has no air=conditioning and our window coverings are feeble. We spent a couple of days in Normandy, at Dieppe, on the beach and the harbor. It was breezy and beautiful: the three best days we’ve ever spent in Normandy.
Dieppe is a town which is part working and part touristique. We may have driven through there once before but never stayed. Harika walked free through the little town, situated on a spit of land in the English channel, facing the ocean beach, but also facing the port, where our hotel looked out. I painted from our hotel window, as well as out on the pier: fishermen and ships.
There were a multitude of restaurants – our first choice was closed, and our alternate choice served the best fish stew I’d ever eaten: in a sauce of langoustines and cream.
We drove our rental car to Treport (very touristy), St Valery-en-Caux, an exceptional fishing port full of boats and a stony beach we sunned on; and in-between Dieppe and le Havre a multitude of tucked-away beaches where we played and relaxed.
Our trip to Normandy changed my thoughts about tours: the best thing about travel is discovering new things: I found a yellow sweater with sewn on pearls, a new restaurant serving delicious fish; a whole new color for the sea. Harika discovered she could have fun off the leash. When things are planned it is difficult to discover. Naivete is paramount.
So it was with the art, as well. I realized not all art must be beautiful to be good. Some art just makes one think differently. It is a process of discovery, and applying that discovery to one’s own point of view.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Junkyard Tuxedo Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 12" ; 18 x 31 cm SOLD
Reader Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 12" 18 x 31 cm
Lounger Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 7 x 12 " ; 18 x 31 cm SOLDARTNOTES: DEFENSE
“This entire drawing only takes up 8 kilobytes,” the man operating the computer tells us. Strictly by using mathematical equations, he is able to instantly generate a highly detailed drawing that a conventional computer-aided-drafting program would take minutes and megabytes to create with polygons and triangles.
I might have learned more had there not been guns blazing directly behind me. Blair and I were at the Eurosatory Defense show at the Paris Exposition Hall this week. It was frankly unnerving to be among so many weapons and their accessories – I couldn’t even walk by some of the vehicles (the size of my living and dining room combined) without worrying a wheel might fall off and kill me. I never imagined I would see a drone, but hey, look over there. I opted out of the show after a couple of hours and have had bad dreams ever since.
The cutting edge of technology has always worked hand in hand with the defense industry. Some of the smartest engineers in the world are in the business of, well, destruction. I tell myself computer tools we are seeing could also be used for peaceful purposes, but the immediacy of the weaponry was overwhelming. Why couldn’t I find a spiritual stand, chaplains or something? How could this terror be mitigated? I needed a drink or six.
At home, I flew into a flurry of painting: creation versus destruction, seeing things in a colorful way. The defense show was strictly shades of grey and camouflage. Wherever I am, I think of how I might paint it.
At the park , it see the broad strokes of the landscape: distant turquoise trees – pink and purple sand on the paths. The people are massed together in chunks, rarely individuals. The chair isn’t solid or rickety, but a line from top to toe.
Flowers are a mass of colors. I paint the yellow eyes of the cat on a black square. The outdoor market isn’t just food, it’s stripes, and an array of boxes, red tomatoes and green lettuce. I overlook the minute details: the gesture of passing money from hand to hand I see, but never the coins or bills.
Madly I paint and I feel much better.
I have been reading about a Marine, Michael Fay, who drew and painted in Iraq, and now that he is retired, is off to record Afghanistan. He must see these war situations in the same way I see the market or the park. Of course, he acts in his role of soldier, as opposed to mine as shopper, stroller, housefrau. I love the drawings and paintings he makes, and I can pick up the same thread I feel in mine. It is as though we are the eye, in the great living body of humankind.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Two guys Lloyd Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6.5 x 12.5 inches
Flowers Amsterdam Laurie Fox PESSEMIER Acrylic on wood 6.5 x 12.5 inches SOLDARTNOTES: The HOTEL you would BUILD
“...the hotel you would build for yourself if you only knew how “ is how the Tribune described The Hotel Lloyd in Amsterdam. And they seem to be right.
We originally booked this trip, part business, part celebration of our 30th wedding anniversary, at the Hotel Filosof. But when we called to confirm our reservation, with Harika, they said they changed their policy: no pets. We’d stayed there before, with Blackie, Q’s dog. So two days before the trip, on Hotels.com (no refunds), we were able to change the booking to a dog friendly joint.
The Hotel Lloyd is a 1,2,3,4 and 5 star hotel and cultural embassy. It makes for a marvelous mix of folks, from us, on the one-star floor, to the rich and famous, all sandwiched together with fabulous artwork (the cultural part).
The ruins of a house from an island off of Montevideo, where some of Holland’s earliest immigrants hailed from, stand in the dining room. Handkerchief pictures, printed on handkerchief linen, wave in the breeze in the six story atrium: this, about sorrow and the lent/easter/pentecost season.
The building itself is super-neat: it was built in the 1920s to house emigrants arriving in the docklands of Holland on the Lloyd line. It is a grand-scale brick structure, with large opening windows. On the backside, the wavy glass still remains in some of the windows, that don’t require sound-proofing.
We look out on a very large canal, and a tram passes over the bridge. Across the way is a rehabbed warehouse building, brick, with its feet directly in the water. Nearly 24 hours into the visit, I haven’t left the neighborhood. (afterward, I learn of a great restaurant, walking distance; oh well, next trip)
Blair is here for “Powergen Europe” a show of energy companies. My involvement with his work is limited, so I stay at the hotel and paint. Three paintings today, not large – I really like them all. Northern light: it stays light out until well after 10 and brightens again at 4:30, but even in the day the light vibrates.
Harika and I eat grill-worst sandwiches by the water where she intimidates the ducks. We are both slightly intimidated by the bicycles here – I have seen what seems like a thousand during my visit. What a wonderful way to get around this flat city. My favorites are the ones with the wheel barrow front for the kiddies. Harika cringes as dogs, on leash, run alongside the bikes.
There are snacks on the counter, real Spanish-tapas style, in the hotel dining room here: 1.50 each. Last night we ate a whole sea bass for dinner. A fig tart, four cheeses…
At the PowerGen show here today Blair played a slot machine at one stand. He pulled all diamonds, and a big fat diamond (with the name of the company emblazoned) popped out. “Happy Anniversary” he beamed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)