The exhibition «Elles» presented at the Salle du Cercle in Seillans from July 26 to August 15, 2022, proposes a dialogue between two artists, Colette Hilaire and Marie-Thérèse Tsalapatanis, and between two artistic media that are watercolor and bronze. They invite us to discover their universe through works sublimating the body of women.

In a difficult current world context, «Elles» testifies to the will of taking us on a poetic journey honoring softness and sensitivity. The intuitive line of Colette Hilaire, highlighted by contrasts of earthy tones, sometimes gives her watercolors a more abstract look as to free up our imagination. The face erased, to have eyes only for the body, a posture, a supplement of soul.

The approach of Marie-Thérèse Tsalapatanis is detached from the body, despite its three- dimensional support, to leave room for the intention. In the midst of feminist topics, this exhibition also offers us a reflection on the relationship to the body, thus questioning the notion of femininity. In most human societies, femininity refers to characteristics considered specific to women and conditioned by a socio-cultural environment. It is constructed on the basis of categorizations and representations: nurturing mother, femme fatale, amazon, muse, the woman is seen through its various archetypes. The sculptures of Marie-Thérèse Tsalapatanis, with a figurative expressionist tendency, explores humanist themes linked to feminism, childhood, mythologies and animality, thus questioning the place of the living and the thought in the universe.

This exhibition, bringing together these two artists for the first time, focuses on the contemporary female condition in a diversity of expressions and reflections.

BIOGRAPHIES

A self-taught artist, Colette Hilaire has been interested in drawing and painting since childhood. Her encounter with watercolor began with a real love at first sight; an immediate and perfect resonance with her sensibility. Beyond the possibilities offered by the material and the multiple techniques she has explored, she discovers, still today, a limitless universe.

Since the 90s, she has participated in personal and collective exhibitions in Paris and more recently in the South of France. She recently exhibited some of her works at the Salon de Mai in Seillans for which she was awarded the prize of Les Amis de Max Ernst.

Marie-Thérèse Tsalapatanis attended the Louvre Decorative Arts classes from the age of 10, then later the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris and the Ateliers Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, mainly for the study of live models in drawing and sculpture.

She participates in solo and group exhibitions and has received numerous awards. Her work is represented in public and private collections in France and abroad. She has also taught sculpture in various workshops in Ile de France.

Curator : Clotilde Delaunay