Magali Léonard the magician of (forms and) colours
From Daniel Rolland
When looking at these pictures shown at the exhibition, our gestures and reactions about them are telling as much as spoken comments. That was the idea, which came into my mind, when I looked at the people, standing touched in front of the paintings from Magali Léonard, a French painter, who exposed her work at Montréal. Among them there were people showing the attitude of contemplation. It looked like, as if the instructions of use pretended by the paintings would lead the observer to keep himself in the right manner waiting for the arrival of a phenomenon. Well, this miracle exists, like a god of volcanoes, the artiste puts the colours together in a manner that the impression of a turning sculpture is generated.
That’s why she is a precursor between the figurative and the abstract illustration. Because of her presentations, one can imagine to have seen them already in the sky like a view of the earth from above and even more. Born and grown-up at Vaison-la-Romaine she has kept the characteristics of her country and the singing accent which is a proclamation of vitality.
She also has conserved like a safe, the capacity of delight, which is the advantage of youth. One figurative example shows more than what I can tell. Invited for a breakfast in the capital of Quebec, Magali Léonard was excited in front of an assembly of fruits, a small sculpture for itself, a representation of the house. Without hesitation she took her camera to catch the moment. And to underline, the Japanese would have admired this, if they have had a chance to see this scene.
Ah! These Japanese, they like very much our artiste, since she had several times the possibility to expose in the country of the rising sun, at Kobe in 2005 and at Osaka in 2004 and 2008. And we can understand why: her pictures, expressing in many cases a kind of cosmic behaviour, force the observer to contemplativeness. And we know that spirituality is part of the Japanese life. The remarkable attribute of Magali Léonard is that she never tries to intellectualize her work. Her creations don’t demand to make efforts for understanding and everywhere where she exhibits, including Montréal, her work inspires at the first glance.
Look and love it, she seems to tell us. And using the word of the poet, everybody who is in contact with her pictures, is asked for an invitation to a journey. That is, why she is appreciated by the exhibitors, because they always receive excellent impressions from the visitors. The effect of her paintings is a little bit similar as Yann Arthus-Bertrand creates with his photos. In this sense a single vision of the picture carries a characteristic signature. That’s the summit for an artist who knows that she will be recognised at the first glance. A big step has been established. Now look and mediate.