By Sandra Schulman
A new gallery in the growing Palm Beach scene, Jennifer Balcos Gallery is debuting with an exhibit of paintings and sculpture by Aude Herlédan, the French artist’s first showing in Palm Beach.
“We find most of our artists during our travels,” Balcos told Palm Beach ArtsPaper. ”I make it a point to visit every gallery, working artists’ studios and museums during our travels. Most of our artists have been with our gallery for many years. We decided on Aude Herlédan for our first Palm Beach show as her works are rich and full of life. She participates in international contemporary art fairs and events. Today, many collectors, curators, and decorators follow her exhibitions worldwide.”
As for the move to Florida, Balcos says: Palm Beach’s dynamic art scene, that hosts nationally recognized art fairs, exhibitions, concerts, and houses some of the finest galleries in the world, made it a no-brainer to expand here. The gallery had a strong existing South Florida collector base and we wanted to further build those relationships.”
Herlédan works in the world between sculpture and painting, balancing a contemporary sensibility with forms inspired by styles of the early 20th century. Bringing together drawings, sculptures, and works on canvas, this shows Herlédan’s depth of creativity and the quality of her recent practice.
Born in Paris in 1966, she spent her childhood in Kinshasa, Congo. She moved between London and Paris in her adolescence and in 1989 graduated in graphic arts from the École Estienne in Paris.
After completing her studies, Herlédan lived in a community of artists in Manaus, Brazil, and led artistic missions for the United Nations in Nairobi, Kenya, where she later co-founded a photographic laboratory for Kenyan journalists. Returning to Paris in 1992, Herlédan designed campaigns for major international brands as creative director in an advertising agency. Herlédan now lives in Paris and Sologne.
Speaking from Paris, Herlédan talks about how Balcos came to feature her work. “Jennifer, choose some of my work, which is very colorful. I use ink. I use lacquer. I use lava dust! I use a lot of materials to express my ideas. She chose work that is very colorful, very happy, also very structured. There is a different series mixed together.”
“I travel and I live in a lot of countries since my childhood. So, my painting expresses all the countries I used to live in and all the people I met. I’m the kind of woman who loves to express things about life. But I try to give something positive. You have artists that suffer and they express what is life for them in the painting. I do something very different. It’s always about emotion. But I want to give to people who can see my work something positive, something strong, happy with emotion.”
Herlédan says her inspirations comes from books and stories.
“I’m a happy woman because in France we have great French literature. But I love German, American, Italian, and Hungarian too. I’m really a reader, literature and poetry really inspire my work. Also movies in France. I would say cinema. This is very important in my life. I love the cinema. I’ve been going to see movies since I was 10 years old, this is really a part of my life. I like stylish, strong films. I see 4 or 5 films a week. My favorite American actor is Gregory Peck.”
“People are very inspiring. I look because with my work, I travel everywhere. Very different countries with very different culture, the people I meet are also very inspiring for me. Encounters are very strong for me.”
Her abstract paintings explore cultures and landscapes using gold leaf and lava dust, in monumental works she describes as “landscapes of the soul.” She sources antique frames, to highlight the content of her paintings, and her singular “white material.”
Alongside a paint manufacturer, Herlédan developed this white material, seen in works “Souvenirs épars” and “Lévitation,” to evoke serene energies and emotions that emanate from the canvases.
After shows in Europe and the U.S. in 2023, Herlédan will be present in Palm Beach for the installation and opening of her show at Jennifer Balcos Gallery. The gallery’s grand opening is Thursday at the 292 S. County Road in Palm Beach, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.