Jean Marc Calvet: Solo Show- Seven Nights In A Week September 6, 2005

FINE ARTIST JEAN MARC CALVET
FEATURED IN A SOLO SHOW: SEVEN NIGHTS IN A WEEK
OPENING SEPTEMBER 09, 2005, 4?9 PM: 43 8TH AVENUE GALLERY

The Discovery of Self Through Art
Granada, Nicaragua August 2005 - Jean Marc Calvet is ?El Guerrero? or ?the warrior? because he has fought his demons and won. He paints images imbued with passionate bursts of color, rich with texture and dense imagery. He leaves no part of the canvas untouched by his brilliance.

Jean Marc Calvet paints to live and lives to paint, he describes his childhood as unhappy and "possessed by personal demons". During the mid 1990?s he sought an escape from his stifled Old World community in which he lived and began to travel in search of his self.

The dawn of the new Millennium caught Calvet feeding his demons. He locked himself away in a small house in Costa Rica with only drugs, alcohol and paranoia as company. Jean Marc Calvet chose his solitary confinement in a drug den as a form of suicide.

During a torturous drug induced binge, he discovered a bucket of paint; his maniacal and obsessive inner voice challenged ?the warrior? to paint. The initial session lasted three days and three nights, only stopping to cry or hide in a closet until the voices stopped.

The addict was driven by the solace; he painted every square inch of his house with anything he could find: sugar, chocolate, bread, blood, flour, industrial paint. His first efforts were the lines, scratches and figures, which would later serve as the prominent features in his art.

After nine months, desperate for paint, he finally reached out to his one-time best friend Glenda. Though he had once weighted 220lbs, when she found him he weighed a mere 100lbs. She nurtured his art and nursed him back to health with regular deliveries of paint and food. Now, every moment painting is a moment without drugs and alcohol for Calvet. Glenda is now his wife.

Jean Marc Calvet explains his training simply: ?I live?. His sophisticated, focused and yet violent paintings most often represent his emotional self. When starting a new work, he will lay the canvas on the floor, walk around it and ?makes his confessions? over the linen fabric. ?If I don?t paint,? he says, ?I will become transparent.?
Jean Marc Calvet is far from transparent, as his vibrant and unique work has quickly begun to garner international attention. Characterized by a kaleidoscope of bright primary colors, Calvet?s paintings are an explosion of life. For the artist, painting is his way of communicating with the outside world. He eloquently explains: ?When people ask me, why do I paint? I answer: ?I paint to know myself, that way I know you and understand you. And definitely, I paint to know you.?

SEVEN NIGHTS IN A WEEK runs from September 6 until September 20, 2005 at 43 8th Avenue Gallery (cross streets Horatio and Jane).

Established by curator Alex Beitler, 43 8th Avenue Gallery in the West Village features emerging and mid-career fine artists who have come to New York City from all over the world. Mr. Beitler gives each artist a solo exhibit for fifteen days in NYC.

For more information call 212.366.1733 or email [email protected]