There are portraits that you look at, and others that look back at you. Those by Valente belong to the second category. The artist, based in the Fontainebleau area, paints portraits at the crossroads of three families: the Pop Art, l'illustration and the’Art Nouveau.
You can spot the result from a distance: some vibrant coloursand solid colours, a treatment of lines and shadows that lends the images a hypnotic quality. The exhibition poster offers a glimpse of this, featuring a female profile with dark lips and a chignon styled like a 1900s ornament.
La Kelly Arty Gallery, an art gallery and concept store on Rue des Pins, is dedicating a two-week temporary exhibition to him, opening with a preview on Saturday 17 October. It’s a great opportunity to discover a local artist before the paintings come down from the walls.
Free entry during the gallery’s opening hours. Further information at the Kelly Arty gallery website.
A few words are enough, I reply personally.