Category Artiste

Art in all its forms at Galerie HVL 

Two young fashion designers make their debut in the world of exhibitions, accompanied by a young painter.
Like painting, photography and sculpture, fashion design will be given pride of place at our exhibition in May 2023.

On the fashion side, Elisa Godfroid and Lionel Virgile are part of the "Upcycling" trend. On the picture rail, you can discover the work of Mathilde Peiffer.

Presentation of the artists :

Elisa Godfroid was born in Verviers in 1992. From an early age, she was drawn to all things creative, and travelled a lot. Painting, drawing, materials, architecture, fashion and design have always been part of her life.

After studying fashion design at the Haute Ecole Helmo Mode, she quickly seized an opportunity to move to Paris, where she lived for eight years.
Over the years, she has held a number of positions. Quickly launched as a freelancer, she was able to cut her teeth and immerse herself in the hard core of fashion. She has worked as a photo stylist, as an assistant and in the editorial offices of various magazines, and as a consultant for several brands.

Having recently returned to Belgium, she has launched her own brand, "La Seule Shop", in line with the upcycling trend. From her "Appart-elier" in Heusy, she makes her creations using high-quality fabrics and lets her imagination run riot.

Passionate, her watchword is sharing. Thanks to her inspirations and desires, the designer wants to take us on a journey, telling stories using colours, materials and volumes. She creates unique pieces in which every detail is important. She believes that there are no limits to creativity, that fashion belongs to everyone, and that the most important thing is to feel good.

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Lionel Virgile is a 26-year-old designer from the Verviers region. Introduced to dressmaking by his mother, he developed a passion for design and fashion that has stayed with him ever since.
Having had no formal training, this self-taught designer started out with a view to making unique clothes for himself. He was inspired by some of the great designers who produced pieces that made him dream, and decided to create his own world.
Receiving positive feedback from friends and family, he decided to offer his services and launch his own brand, Pacific Boys.

As part of the upcycling trend, he too works with old clothes, mainly second-hand. His favourite material is denim. He is particularly fond of this material and the multitude of possibilities that are inherent in this type of fabric.
In a style he describes as "ordered chaos", with a streetwear bent, he makes one-off pieces. He creates garments that are sometimes completely reassembled using his sewing machine in his workshop.

He believes that each of his creations has its own story. He gives a new lease of life to the clothes he recovers and adds a part of himself to them, in an eternal cycle, an eternal restart.

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Mathilde Peiffer, aka La Choza, is a 28-year-old painter, also from Verviers. An enthusiast of the brush since childhood, she worked discreetly for many years and only began to reveal her work at a late age. Following an exhibition at a private venue, she held her first public gallery exhibition at Galerie HVL.

The creative spirit is part of her everyday life: after a master's degree in industrial design, followed by training in web development/code, she now works as a web interface designer. Passionate about her work, she brings the same energy to her life as an artist.

The young painter is inspired by nature and its colours, the landscapes she has discovered, animated films and comic strips. Her colourful style is a cross between the influences of Jean Dubuffet, Doodle Art and Pop Art.

A globe-trotter at heart, she also draws inspiration from her adventures and experiences, including an almost three-year trip to Australia. Incidentally, her artist name 'La Choza' originated during a trip to Patagonia, Chile, following a snowstorm in the Andes.

Painter, photographer, video artist, sculptor, ... Guy Lemaire is a multi-talented self-taught artist. Born in Belgium in 1954, he became interested in the art world at a very young age. He began his artistic adventure by joining the American photography trends of the time, more precisely the Witkin, Mapplethorpe, Gatewood, etc... Since then, he has never stopped developing, reinventing himself, diversifying styles, techniques and media.

Over the course of his career, Guy Lemaire has acquired international renown thanks to numerous exhibitions abroad: Tokyo, Amsterdam, Cologne, Milan, as well as Buenos Aires in 2004 with the "Play III" exhibition, which allowed him to be recognised for his work as a video artist. Noted for his talent as a photographer, he was asked by pataphysicians, including André Blavier, to illustrate "Temps Mêlés". An article was also dedicated to him in the renowned American magazine "Collectors Photography USA". His works are present in many prestigious collections such as the Département des Estampes et de la Photographie of the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, the Paul Arden Collection (Saatchi & Saatchi) and the Ken Damy Museum in Milan.

In 2007, in search of creative regeneration, the artist decided to leave the hustle and bustle of the cities to isolate himself in the Fagnes, where he still lives. It is in the serenity of nature that he rediscovers the pleasure of painting.

Guy Lemaire begins this new chapter with the study of monochrome blacks. Passing through a period he describes as "German Neo-Expressionism", he then focuses on the art of primitive peoples, inspired in particular by aboriginal iconography. He is passionate about mathematics and uses the formulas that govern the laws of our universe to compose his paintings. Constantly on the lookout for the evolution of new technologies, he does not hesitate to incorporate artificial intelligence into his artistic creation process. Guy Lemaire, a creative mind, a visionary?

On the occasion of his exhibition at the Galerie HVL, Guy Lemaire presents his latest works: photographs, "mathematical-tribal" paintings and an exclusive series in a new neo-expressionist style. We are waiting for you to come and discover the work of this enigmatic character...

After several years of absence, Jean-Marie Mélis is back on the exhibition scene. And it's happening in his home town, at the Galerie HVL! 

In a style originating from the comic strip, the young retiree reveals his oil paintings and drawings always revolving around his central theme: the woman. Her grace, her beauty, her fragility but even more so her warrior strength are depicted in his works. With an uncommon precision, his paintings will make you travel in the imagination of this multitude of characters... 

The precision of the gesture, the conquest of materials and colours and the confrontation with chance have been side by side in Alain Schank's abstraction for some twenty years. In perpetual research, the artist recently met his alias Snach-Ka...

This artistic turnaround was intended to be free of all constraints, more eccentric and authentic than the previous one. The painter became independent and no longer responded to the requests of the galleries that exhibited his work: choice of colours and shades, formats, effects, etc. He now painted by himself and for himself.

Snach-Ka's figurative work is full of violence and unabashedness. The crazy characters he creates are in phase with his new style. Marginal, brutal, often gravitating towards the punk sphere, they scream out their desire to have their identity recognised and to break their chains.

The artist calls himself a "painter of the moment" in the sense that each of his paintings is revealed in the light of day without any preparatory drawings. It is his prior and unceasing work of pictorial research and his profound mastery of techniques that allow him to create his works at the "T" moment.

The explosion of colours, the daring collages and the eccentric characters charm some and shock others... but for sure, these original productions will leave no one indifferent. As an invitation from the artist to dive into his universe, the message FIND ME INSIDE will guide you in the discovery of this complex work... 

Nothing predestined Jean-Michel Dubuc for an artistic career. It was by chance that this fifty-year-old from Liège came to painting. Attracted by decoration and photography, he started with stencils and small formats and quickly got into the game. His passion never stopped growing and revealed an unsuspected creativity. "This allows me to free myself completely, without any restrictions. When I'm with my 'tools', I don't see the time passing, I'm completely immersed" confides this self-taught artist for whom painting has become a kind of necessity.
Jean-Michel Dubuc's work focuses on colour with an emphasis on spontaneity. As a support, this undeniably talented artist most often uses aluminium plates that he "deconstructs" and then "reconstructs" by superimposing pigments. "I look for contrasts in colour, flatness and relief so that the light is reflected," he says. Working flat, Jean-Michel Dubuc literally immerses himself in the plate in order to be as spontaneous and free as possible, thus losing awareness of his actions in an attempt to achieve an almost automatic gesture. A form of action painting for the artist who proposes a production not far from abstract expressionism.
Jean-Michel Dubuc has not given any title to the works chosen for this exhibition, which is rightly entitled "Untitled". This is a desire to give the viewer total freedom to apprehend them without prejudice or instructions. His paintings catch the eye at first glance and then invite the viewer to immerse themselves more deeply and intensely in the many details, giving free rein to their imagination. By refusing to impose his vision of his production, this emerging artist allows each viewer to project his or her own experience, previous experiences, and relationship with the world, and to always detect a different story and varied and intense emotions. A singularity and an approach that undeniably make this painter from Liège one to watch....