Artist Focus: Laurent Gélis (Robert le Héros Art)
For the last fifteen years, Laurent Gélis has lived between Paris and Rio de Janeiro. He runs Robert le Héros, a bold lifestyle brand that brightens up our homes with unique colour ranges and generous graphics. In everything he does, the artistic approach is at the forefront, as is the idea of timelessness. He is determined to show his love of Brazil and its different territories, and his desire to share his emotions. Robert le Héros Art was born in 2020, in a painting workshop in Brazil, fuelled by the ambition to show a new poetic and colourful artistic endeavour. His first exhibition in Rio was a great success, with many collectors turning up. The most famous, Mario Testino, bought half the paintings for his MATE museum in Lima.
"The modern, graphic architecture of Oscar Niemeyer, and more recently that of Marcio Kogan, are major influences for me. The Bahaus wanted to build a new world with a social vocation of equality; mine is imaginary and colourful, aimed at everyone without elitism. Magical architecture, intense places, poetic landscapes, abstract cities, and the evocation of carnival are the sources of inspiration for my paintings."
What he wishes to share through his work is the emotion he felt when he discovered these places and these architectures: "I spent a lot of time loving them, looking at them, and making them my own. It's also the desire to share my wonder at the associations of colours and abstraction that take everyone where they want to go. A work of art is indestructible, essential, the opposite of ephemeral. When you've made a conscious choice in favour of a painting, you'll never want to part with it. It's this encounter that interests me. Viewers who are sensitive to the images of Brazil can project themselves as they wish by discovering these radiant masses and take the journey they want."
See all the works of Robert le Héros Art