Olivier LEDROIT, Eric VANEL Les fleurs du mal
Presentation
Olivier Ledroit returns to the Brussels scene to feature at the Huberty & Breyne gallery in a two-way ?conversation? with the sculptor Eric Vanel
Artist, illustrator and author of some thirty comic books and graphic novels (Le Troisième ?il, Wika, Requiem, les Chroniques de la Lune noire), Olivier Ledroit returns to the Brussels scene for a solo exhibition entitled ?Les fleurs du mal?, due to run from 14 March to 19 April 2025 at the Huberty & Breyne gallery. In revisiting Baudelaire?s masterpiece, Olivier Ledroit offers his own slant on the great poet?s work, viewing it through the prism of his own imaginative universe ? one much admired by fans of the comic book genre. And Ledroit has invited the figurative sculptor Eric Vanel to join him for this reinterpretation.
Originally from Paris, Olivier Ledroit currently lives in a small commune not far from Vannes (Brittany). In this exhibition, he focuses his efforts on a monument of French literature ? Charles Baudelaire?s Les Fleurs du mal. It is a challenge worthy of Ledroit?s ambitious aspirations, his visual expansiveness and his passionate exploration of the dreamlike worlds of the imagination. ?I didn?t just want to illustrate Baudelaire?s poems,? Ledroit explains. ?Other people have done that before me. My aim, rather, was to recreate the cultural ambiance of Baudelaire?s life ? his visions, his inspirations and concerns, his milieu, the 19th-century Paris that was familiar to Baudelaire??
Ledroit?s highly original approach is reinforced by a varied soundscape that incorporates the likes of Erik Satie and the German rock band Rammstein, the Exorcist soundtrack and music from the opera Romeo & Juliet, inviting visitors to step into the mind of the great poète maudit.
Here, gorgeously attired women make their appearance alongside Paris monuments, cats, death?s-heads and dragons. Bursting with colour at times, at times celebrating love, at times melancholy? this is a journey that takes us to the heart of Charles Baudelaire ? his sensibilities and his moods. Moods that are vastly different and yet coherent, thanks to the personality of the illustrator himself.
PRIVATE VIEW
Thursday 13 March 2025, from 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm
in the presence of the artists
EXHIBITION
From Friday 14 March 2025
to Saturday 19 April 2025
Bruxelles | Châtelain
33, place du Châtelain
Wednesday > Saturday 11.00 am - 6.00 pm