OLIVIER SUIRE VERLEY
Daily Encounters
Olivier Suire Verley was born on the Atlantic coast of France in the town of La Rochelle to a family of artists. Living in a coastal town, he often paints the seaside— the beaches, boats and docks—but he is also drawn to city life. In his upcoming eighth solo exhibition at Addison Art Gallery in Orleans, Massachusetts, the artist will exhibit paintings that show moments he experiences. These scenes are often ones “we think are insignificant and that are the essence of my inspiration,” he says. “The emotion is everywhere for the one who knows how to open his heart.”
Each painting that Verley paints has his unique marks. Once his idea is in place, he begins with the characters first, the foreground, the shadows and the direction of light. After those elements are completed, he will paint the background. He explains, “In fact, I am doing the opposite of the
logic that would require that we install characters in a setting; I’m setting the scene after my actors.”
In his painting City Life, Verley shows the setting sun igniting the heart of the city. “The crowd advances magnetized by the grandiose spectacle,” he describes. “I like cities and their excessiveness. It’s the heart of our world. The city and the men—their fascinating, unassailable complicity. The man feeds the city and the city eats the man.”
Early Morning, another work that will be in the exhibition, is a simpler account of life in La Rochelle. It depicts fishermen aiming for their first catches of the day. “Some go fishing for eels in the morning mist that rises,” he says. “The atmosphere is ocher; we feel the silence of the marsh.”
Verley, whose work will be on view at the gallery from August 2 to September 15, says inspiration is in reach for everyone. He explains, “Use reality to invent a scenario, take the time to look and let the emotions invade us. To paint is only the reflection of our soul.”