Chris Calvet
French plastic artist born in 1979. Nature and the elements (materials, light, colours, shapes, etc.) inspired a want for discovery and adventure, generating a global-minded attitude that influences his works today: “Discovery” of the craftsmanship by his childhood friend, Lyseth, with whom he met Hassan Massoudy, then assisting her in the compilation of plate engravings, and this at the early age of 19; “Adventure” during his major travels to China, amongst others, paving the way towards perspectives that are now seemingly evident - calligraphy.
Noticed by Starter Gallery, he was given the opportunity in 2015 to spend several weeks in residence at one of the largest museums of Chengdu (city with 14 million population), to exhibit works in three museums of Chengdu and to put his technique to test before such reputable international artists as Xu Liaoyuan, Qiu Guangping…
Remaining global-minded, his approach is simple, with the daily repetition enabling to learn and master the technique without relent, guided by Alessandra Laneve, his instructor. Hence, the “Signes” series saw the day, granting him his current international fame (Exhibitions in China (Chengdu, Shanghaï), Paris, Lausanne, Hambourg, Rome and Seoul, etc.). Requiring human resonance in his works, he has combined the plastic of selected models into his paintings for their expressiveness.
Signs, as always, are the expression of humanity, with the primary graphic frescoes, sketched in the grottos or on the rocky faces across the deserted plains, reflecting the ability of the artist to fix his interiority via the essential gesture, and to transcend the emptiness of his existence, calling upon collective imagination. The subjective force and the link that exists between the shape of the model and the calligraphy lines are, according to Chris Calvet, the transcription of such presence on earth, and the unfailing liaison between nature and mankind. It is also a kind of homage to this millennial art, revisited by a young creator, seeking to induce a lively and contemporary style via a novel approach. The images of Chris Calvet are thus timeless and universal, appreciated as much in Europe as in Asia.
