all pictures courtesy of Jean-Louis Bigou
In the community of Montséret near Narbonne in southern France, an ensemble of sculptures is under construction*, which although there are links to outsider art, best could be qualified as an art environment
Life and works
Born in Nîmes (southern France) in 1971, Florent Hamel had a difficult childhood, grewing up in a disadvantaged area of the city. He joined the graffiti scene, making realistic pieces on walls. In this scene it is customary to work with aliases, and Hamel invented his nickname Spiktri, he currently still uses.
Spiktri refers to spiral. carré (square) andtriangle, or life, male and female, concepts and symbols which stand for two antagonists in life, the masculine (violence, aggression, evil) and the feminine (peace, love, sex, good) and in line with this his work has two axes: agressive art and love revolution.
As in this clip on Youtube (3'44, downloaded jan 2013)
Although Hamel never attended art classes, he masters the art of drawing rather well. A talented, energetic artist, alongside making murals, Spiktri began working with other techniques and materials, like doing paintings on canvas and making sculptures.
Because of his experiences with street art, but undoubtedly also because of his personality, he works quickly, as if in urgency.
Because of his experiences with street art, but undoubtedly also because of his personality, he works quickly, as if in urgency.
In creating his sculpted art works, sculpture street art as he has named it, he uses recycled material, wire, drift wood, as for example can be seen in a series of skulls on Saatchi on line
the entrance
Since the artworld has not received his work in a way Hamel would have liked, he decided to take an independent position and seek his own way to promote and present his work.
So in 2010 he began transforming the rather large garden of a holiday resort he ownes into an art environment, a project nowadys still in progress. The site, spanning some 13.000 m2, has four holiday houses which can be rented in summer.
Hamel being a fast and prolific artist, the garden meanwhile has a varied collection of large, robust sculptures, mainly made from recycled materials.
The pictures give an impression.
Hamel being a self-taught artist, his sculpture garden can formally be classified as an outsider art environment, but I doubt he would be happy with such a designation.
So let's say this site is just an art environment tout court, or even better, it's Spiktri's garden.
Documentation
* Spiktri's personal website
* Article about the garden in regional journal Aube Times (nov 2013, in english, on ISSUU, click to page 22/23)
* Article on Jean-Louis Bigou's weblog, 30-1-2014 (in french)
note
* I am indebted to colleague blogger Jean-Louis Bigou, who pointed me to this environment, and provided both pictures and information
Jardin de Spiktri
1010 Route de la Mer
11200 Montséret, Aude, FR
can be visited from oct-april,
in summer only on appointment