Christine Estève grew up among artists, in the heart of Saint
Germain des Prés, a Parisian district favoured by gallerists.
When artistic expression was being so critically questioned,
her visits to museums and exhibitions and her regular contacts
with artists were the foundation of her commitment as a painter.
Thus, at the time when exciting forms of expression like installations,
performances, video art and all manners of conceptual art were freed
from the pictorial tradition, Christine Estève has chosen to inscribe
her own research within the strict framework of classicals technique
and forms of oil painting.
Oil painting. Linen canvas. Classical formats.
Trained outside formal art schools, a number of significant encounters
provided her with the necessary knowledge she needed to nurture her
project. In 1970, artist and patron Eliza W. Lloyd Moore set up a studio
for her and enabled her to learn from Fernand Renard, a painter and
skilled technician.
Silences
After a period of work, followed bu exhibitions in various galleries
and cultural spaces (1983 to 1999), Christine Estève chose, for greater
freedom, to exhibit her work on a single day each year, from sunrise to
sunset, in a field in the South of France, 43° 49 58.48N, 3° 49 19.61E.
This was the period of Silences (1999 to 2018).
It was also a time of growing interest in light and its specific links
with the technique of oil painting.
Duos
“I made the wild beast’s silent leap to strangle every joy.”
Arthur Rimbaud
During this period of withdrawal from the artistic scene and aware of
the dangers of isolation, Christine Estève cultivated her interest in
“other people’s work”, in Primo Levi’s words. This led to a wide range
of collaborations and experiences, Duos, which provided her with
opportunities to interrogate the painter’s craft, to share her questions
and to participate, through painting, in various projects.
Flying carpets in Siwenly
In 2003, Christine Estève initiated and directed the research program
“IMAGE ET PATRIMOINE – Heritage policies and image practice«
at the Ecoles Nationales Supérieures d’Architecture – MCC, a program now
headed by Jérémy Cheval, Phd in Architecture and Urban Planning.
The IMAGE ET PATRIMOINE program raises the question of Art as a research tool. It takes as its subject the world’s built heritage, which it proposes to observe and analyse at the very moment of its disappearance and the emergence of contemporary buildings. Through the use of images (drawing, photography, video), it contributes to the study of heritage policies and the cultural and political impact of built heritage.
This was the setting for a first series of canvasses created by Christine
Estève, « Flying carpets » installed in Shanghaï’s largest Shikumen Lilong
of Dong Siwenli, 上海石库门里弄懂斯文里, on the occasion of the Fireflies
gathering Festival, an artistic initiative led by Jérémy Cheval,
in which 68 artists, painters, photographers, dancers, actors, and poets
engage with the site.
This initiative is detailed in Vies d’un lilong, lilong lives – Siwenli,
Shanghaï by Jérémy Cheval (Les Xérographes éditions, 2017).
Flying carpets in Siwenli, 2023-2024 Project.
On the occasion of a return visit to the Siwenli lilong in 2020, when the
deserted alleys and walled shikumen seemed frozen in time awaiting
an uncertain fate, Christine Estève conceived a project for an installation
of canvasses that would tell the story of the lilong and its
inhabitants. In 2023-2024, 25 pieces by Christine Estève, including 18
flying carpets and 7 portraits of dignitaries, will hopefully tell this
story, for one night, in an alley of Siwenli.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023-2024 – PROJET – « Flying carpets in Siwenli »
Shanghaï. Chine. PROJET
2000 « Petits meubles d’appoint », Paintings and publishing.
43° 49 58.48N, 3° 49 19.61E.
1999 à 2018 « Les Silences ». Paintings. Each year
single day exhibition, from sunrise to sunset, in a field in the South of France,
43° 49 58.48N, 3° 49 19.61E
1997 « sans-titre et sans commentaires »
Paintings. Galerie Olga Soe, Paris. FR.
1993 « Le métier des autres » – A tribute to Primo Levi
First International Seminar of Structural Morphology.
Université MTP2- EALR. FR
1992 « Les Silences » Paintings. Galerie Olga Soe, Paris. FR
1991 « Les folies » Paintings. Domus Vivendi, Montpellier.FR
1989 « Les descendants », Paintings. Galerie K., Paris . FR
1989 « Le printemps des Frag’s » News cartoons. Installation. Paintings.
Galerie Agniel, Nîmes. FR.
1984 à 1988 « La ville encore » Paintings, Galerie K. Paris FR
1986 « Dessins » Galerie des Blancs Manteaux. Paris. FR
1983 « Les Jumeaux » Paintings, Espace Bankowsky, Paris. FR
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1999 « L’œuvre insigne ». Paintings. Musée de Bédarieux. FR.
1998 « Autour de Monique Demart, poésie ». Paintings. Musée de Bédarieux . FR.
1995 Paintings. Musée de Bédarieux.FR.
1993 Paintings. C.N.A.P., rue Berryer, Paris. FR.
1990 « 89 artistes pour la Liberté ».
Bicentenaire de la Révolution française. Alignan des vents, Château d’ô, Montpellier. FR.
1982 « Dehors dedans » Installation. Galerie Jean Perret, Paris. FR.
1975 « Acting » Event. Conceptor and coordinator partner.
Experimetal workshop of the Opéra de Paris. Dir Carolyn Carlson and Vidéo Heads
/ Unesco. Bataclan, Paris FR