Delphine, our specialist in culture and outstanding receptionist, introduces her creative crush: Felix Gonzalez-Torres, the artist who gave her an access to conceptual art and made her love it. Have a look through the window, she will show you the way…
My dual role as an art appreciation guide gives me the chance to visit Hôtel Molitor. I can enjoy this beautiful street art collection. When I visited it for the first time as a spectator I’ve rediscovered Pierre-Benoît Dumont artworks. You may know him as Artiste-Ouvrier. I have a great admiration for this artist and I must confess it’s because he is the perfect contrary of a street artist. We use to picture street art as a wide quick and sharp gesture…and kind of illegal. The stencil artist Artiste-Ouvrier is not quick, not wide, not sharp. And he is definitely not illegal! He cuts out complex stencils and meticulously detailed as they were master paintings. It is quite a painstacking task. Then he uses forty of different colors that he paints rigorously layer by layer.
Inspired by the famous paintings of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and symbolism, Artiste-Ouvrier couldn’t be more perfect to me. The representation of Jupiter et Sémélé by my artistic true love Gustave Moreau is fascinating. I already admired the 19th-century original one because of all the rich details forming a confused gigantic anthill where the main characters seated on. The Artist-Ouvrier’s version is striking by its chromatic intensity. The explosion of colors and black details make the artwork look like stained glass windows shrouded with a mystic light. So much precision and so much time for ephemeral artworks. It definitely marks a major evolution for urban art liberting itself from its roots.
Delphine Romain, Office assistant
