Exhibitions - Les expos d'Elsa

January 3 to 27, 2024 :
Robin LEBEL, contemporary painting
From an early age, R. Lebel has been passionate about painting. After a prestigious fine arts training, he held his first exhibitions in 2013.
In 2016, he crossed the Americas from Canada to Argentina to realize his dream: the Globe Painter Project, enabling him to meet other artists through travel, immerse himself in their different painting techniques and share their common passion.
After this formative trip, in 2018 he settled in Aytré with his wife, where he has since made a living from his art.
R. Lebel draws his inspiration from his travels around the world, from current and ancient civilizations, offering him the material to create a mosaic of fragments of life. The result is a lively, homogeneous work, where lines and curves will take your gaze for a walk.
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From January 31 to February 24, 2024 :
Gérard RAY ARENDS, oil painting
Looking at the sky, mixing colors, trying again and again ... Gérard Ray Arends entered the world of painting in 2016 after several decades of envy.
His first steps as an artist were in acrylics, but Ray soon turned to oil paint, his favorite technique, which allows him to let the colors on his canvas evolve according to his imagination.
The changing skies and the sea near which he lived inspired his palette, to which he added the many birds of the Aytrés coastline.
As his pictorial adventures unfold, he also uses mixed techniques, such as pen and ink, to create resolutely contemporary canvases.
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From February 28 to March 23, 2024
Romain BELLEGANTE, metal art
A passionate craftsman since 2013, Romain Bellegante brings to life, sublimates and enhances raw materials such as metal and wood. Using natural materials, he creates works that are forged, sculpted and shaped by hand in an industrial style.
Whether paintings, furniture or art deco objects, his work with steel also extends to interior design. More recently, he has begun producing figurative canvases, using a remarkable engraving technique.
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From March 27 to April 20, 2024
Jean-Pierre GUERRY, pastel
Self-taught, Jean-Pierre Guerry's attraction to the arts goes back to his childhood. Still working, he has been painting for some fifteen years, and more regularly for the last 7. Pastel, a technique similar to drawing, is his preferred medium. Working with his fingers is a pleasure, offering him the possibility of being in contact with the material and the support. Her sources of inspiration are varied and her works classified into 3 main themes:
- The West: coastal and seascapes, Marais Poitevin, La Rochelle and surroundings, etc;
- Southern region: Basque country, Toulouse and surroundings, Spain;
- Scenes of life and still lifes.
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April 24 - May 18, 2024:
SAndo, multidisciplinary artist
SAndo, aka Sandrine Pillon, was born in 1971 with a pencil in her hand. After initial experience in Paris with acrylic on wood, painting on porcelain and watercolour, she moved to La Rochelle in 2003, and in 2004 began perfecting her skills at the Ecole Martenot. In 2011, she joined the Atelier d'Art Joussaume-Barbas, and in 2013 began exhibiting her work on her own in popular venues in La Rochelle, then as part of a group at the Salon des Arts Plastiques de La Rochelle, the Arts Atlantic biennial...
Her constantly renewed art moves from the human body to oceanic landscapes, from Indian ink to acrylics, or even upcycling furniture in recent years.
Her highly sensitive artistic freedom has recently seduced the high-end design chains of La Rochelle, where you can purchase her creations of trays, tables and consoles.
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May 22 - June 15, 2024 :
Maryline GREGORUTTI, painting and sculpture
A self-taught painter and sculptor, Maryline Gregorutti began her career in a professional theater company, where she made sets, costumes and posters.
After several years in the performing arts, she returned to drawing, enrolling in art classes to assess her knowledge and perfect her techniques. Her initial focus was on clay modelling, ceramics and raku. Then, acquiring confidence and advanced techniques, she decided to give free rein to her imagination.
Her recent paintings, abstract and colorful, are created with a vital élan. Created in acrylic, they express the power of emotion and imagination with spontaneity and energy.
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From June 19 to August 31, 2024:
Aytré, a coastal town
The evolution of Aytré's coastline is marked by erosion. Winds and sea currents erode cliffs and dunes, leading to a significant retreat of the coastline, particularly since the beginning of the 20th century, as a result of coastal urbanization.

The "Patrimoine littoral d'Aytré : une histoire riche et menacée" exhibition takes visitors on a journey through the history and evolution of the town's coastline. It features photographs, historical documents and models explaining the major projects currently underway, helping visitors to understand the issues and means involved in preserving the coastline.

Lo DORÉ, aquatic painting
A native of Hauts de France, Laurence Doré, known as Lo Doré, has lived on the Ile de Ré for 20 years. She grew up in a family where art was omnipresent, with parents who were painters, musicians, art collectors and collectors of vintage vehicles.

She picked up her brushes in 2012. Since then, inspired by her surroundings and current events, she has been assembling colors and shapes in a perpetual quest for balance and aestheticism. The fish, the central element of her works, evokes a place, an atmosphere or a feeling, giving free rein to each artist's imagination to find their own interpretation.

A contemporary painter with influences such as Miró and Matisse, Lo now exhibits her work in contemporary art galleries and salons in France and abroad.
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From September 4 to 28, 2024:
François CHAYÉ, abstract portraits
François Chayé trained at the Centre de recherches et d'études audiovisuelles (CREAV) in La Rochelle, where he was born, and began his career teaching audiovisual techniques at secondary schools in Bayonne, La Rochelle and Poitiers. A true all-round visual artist, he worked on numerous audiovisual projects before devoting himself to writing and directing his own documentaries, notably for the Arte and France 5 channels.

Alongside his work as director and scriptwriter, this visual arts enthusiast also produces his own photographs and paintings. His graphic universe mainly features portraits, with a particular focus on the eyes of his subjects. He uses a variety of techniques, from pencil and oil on canvas to collage and direct pigments. In this way, he crystallizes different emotions through textures.
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From October 2 to 26, 2024 :
Florence MARZO, illustrated children's literature
Florence Marzo hails from the island of Ré. After studying graphic design and applied arts, she became a computer graphics designer and now works as a freelance artist in Aigrefeuille d'Aunis, alongside her profession.

Her work will introduce you to "Lili rêve", a highly original book. Composed of acrylic paintings and a story for 7-12 year-olds, the story is presented on large-format exhibition panels. It explores the wonder of childhood, the awakening of the senses and the limitless imagination through the character of Lili, a dreamy little girl with an exploratory soul.
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From October 30 to November 23, 2024:
Agnès GUÉDEU, abstract painting
Self-taught, Agnès was trained by Mr Nguyen Van Thé (professor at the Beaux Arts de Paris and winner of the Prix de Rome in sculpture), who advised, supported and guided her throughout her transition from figurative to abstract art.
Today, color is at the heart of his research, blending with techniques - canvas, paper, acrylic and pastel - to find the right balance and release emotion. On canvas, the artist paints geometric shapes in dynamic, moving signs, placed in front of infinite spaces.
Her art plays with the properties of ink, water and pastel to express the sensation of an instant. Behind the real, the unreal and the desire to privilege emotion.
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November 27 - December 21, 2024:
Stéphane KOËTH x Joël PAQUEREAU, photographs
Amateur photographer Stéphane Koëth takes us on a journey to the heavens, with his high-altitude photographic work entitled "Dialogues aux sommets". From misty landscapes to the caresses of the sun, his relationship with the mountains is very special, and his shots are tinged with emotion.

Joël Paquereau, amateur photographer with the talent of a professional. Deeply rooted in sharing his passion, his eye will present you with moments captured in black and white and particularly graphic architectural images.