The Café des Quatre Chemins in Montauban-de-Luchon hosted, on Thursday, October 8th, a meeting with Spanish artist LUCE. This event is part of the "Passe Montagne" residency project, jointly led by La Chapelle Saint-Jacques, a contemporary art center in Saint-Gaudens, Luchon Haute Montagne (LHM), and the community of communes.
LUCE, whose real name is Lucas, born in 1989 in Valencia (Spain), spent a week in residence at the LHM refuge, located at an altitude of 2,545 meters at the foot of the Maupas peak. Accompanied by his assistant Jaume, as well as artists Théophile Seyrig and Édouard Decam, members of LHM, he explored his artistic practice, usually linked to urban spaces, through the lens of a completely different environment: the mountains and refuge life.
Despite the rain and the first snows, the four hikers descended to the valley to directly share their experience with the public. Moderated by Andrea Rodriguez Novoa, an exhibition curator based in France and Spain, this exchange allowed attendees to discover the artist's approach and how he appropriated this unique environment. For this residency, LUCE brought a printer, with which he notably created prints on the covers of books from the refuge's library. This privileged and intimate moment offered the public an opportunity to reflect on this week at altitude and glimpse the artist's research.
Through the "Passe Montagne" initiative, supported by the Communauté de Communes des Pyrénées Haut Garonnaises, La Chapelle Saint-Jacques and LHM continue their commitment to contemporary creation by inviting artists to nourish their practice in contact with the mountains, without a production objective.
