Summer Collective I

HUGO GALERIE is pleased to announce its Summer Collective I, which includes the work of several Hugo artists, including François ANTON, Elizabeth ALLISON, Beth CARTER, Marc CHALMÉ, Yves CRENN, Laurent DAUPTAIN, Fabienne DELACROIX, Philippe DESQUESNE, Philippe JACQUET, Joseph PAXTON, Patrick PIETROPOLI, Brian Keith STEVENS, and Benoît TRIMBORN.

Elizabeth Allison, an American artist originally from Chicago, presents surreal watercolor land and cityscapes. In the artist’s own words, her paintings take the “emotional temperature” of the places she depicts. Her works on paper are emotional semblances of familiar locations, with areas of abstraction; her physical process is evident in the unexpected marks and drips from the water and on the surface of her work.

French-Algerian artist François Anton creates playful glimpses into his psyche; his oil on canvas pieces, which often include collage and mixed media elements, capture the childish lightheartedness of comic-book strips while remaining skillfully executed, balanced works of art.

British artist Beth Carter is well-known for her fantastical sculptures, in bronze and resin, that unite human and animal forms. Carter’s sculptures, deeply rooted in mythology, are part of a genre the artist describes as “magical realism.” The artist’s unique body of work creates an alternate reality – one that invites the viewer to partake in a journey to a strange, dreamlike world where the lines between man and beast, reality and the subconscious and the possible and impossible are no longer clear.

French artist Marc Chalmé presents eerie street scenes, quiet interiors and still-lifes in oil that explore the illusive nature of light. Chalmé’s work is distinguished by his sensitive treatment of the complex relationship between light and shadow. Chalmé does not work from photographs but rather from his memory of certain moments and observations; this creates a peculiar quality in his work. His paintings are translations of realities that he has dreamed, not realistic interpretations of the world.

French artist Yves Crenn's work is most distinguished by his distinctive combination of dry pastels and watercolor on paper, a technique the artist utilizes to create a unique texture and softness. His work today recalls the Italian frescoes that affected him so strongly in his youth in their texture and muted color palette. His paintings have an emotional and timeless quality – he captures the essence of his subjects, with as much thought and sensitivity as the Italian art and architecture that inspired him.

French artist Laurent Dauptain is best known for his large-scale self-portraits, of which he has painted thousands over the last thirty years. His prolific features are visible brush strokes, generous paint application, and a sensitive approach to color. While Dauptain is most known for these portraits, his subjects range from masterful landscapes, quiet still-lifes to emotive figurative scenes.

French artist Fabienne Delacroix is internationally known for her charming and nostalgic depictions of the French country and seaside. While her style is similar to that of her father, celebrated and master of the Naïf style Michel Delacroix, Fabienne has proven herself as an independently unique and talented artist. Her most recent collections include cityscapes and her bucolic French landscapes, for which she is most known. Her paintings are a celebration of the importance of nature and the pastoral countryside. The importance of the purity and peacefulness of nature are the key pieces to her enchanting paintings.

Philippe H. Dequesne, a Belgian artist working in France, paints vivid and boldly colored depictions of daily life. Trained as an architect, Dequesne’s paintings reveal not only an innate understanding of spatial relationships and form but an unexpected sensitivity to the places and objects he presents.

American artist Brian Keith Stephens chooses bright colors and bold forms for his thoughtful depictions of animals, landscapes and children. Set against textured, colorful backgrounds, the artist’s simple subjects, often birds or wild animals, take on a whimsical quality. His mystical paintings explore the complicated connections between humans, animals and the rest of the world.

French artist Philippe Charles Jacquet paints mysterious twilight worlds with incredible precision and detail. Inspired by the coasts, estuaries and architecture of the Rance Valley in Brittany, France, his oil on board works are stunning composites of the real and the imagined. The landscapes of Philippe Charles Jacquet, painted in quaint, nostalgic colors, appear orderly, peaceful, silent, secret, and mysterious. They are the hidden memories of an invisible world. Poetic and of refined perfection.

British artist Joseph Paxton’s work explores both the physical and phycological juxtapositions of strength, vulnerability, simplicity and complexity within animals and humans. Often drawing parallels between the two species, he explores behaviors, emotions, and states of being, delineated through physical dynamic. The connection between living beings and their environment and the exploration of the human animal are common themes in his work.

French artist Patrick Pietropoli was a teacher of political studies for several years before becoming a professional artist. Trained as both a painter and a sculptor, his oil paintings on linen have both an antique feel and a very contemporary freeness. Drawing inspiration from the style of old masters such as Titian and Velasquez, Pietropoli creates grand figural compositions and cityscapes. With small amounts of paint and restricted palette, he brings an intimate texture and space to his paintings. Each painting, due to its observed patience, is timeless.

American Artist Brian Keith Stephens states: At the center of my work and life are the fascinations with myth, the spectrum of human passion, our kinship to the spirit of the wild animal, and the challenge of balancing the real with the fanciful. We must balance all of this while also navigating the spectrum of time, the web of past, present, and future. My art has been and continues to be my outlet for exploring these themes and conjuring up new ones.

French artist Benoit Trimborn is renowned for his large-­scale, stunning landscapes in oil on canvas. Trimborn, trained as an architect, categorizes his work as “contemporary impressionism”; by this, he is referencing his unusual approach to ordinary subjects, his emphasis on the ethereal quality of light and his focus on the natural world.