The artist embraces his roots as he exhibits his sculptures at La Petite Maison until September. Let's meet this enthusiastic individual who shows his art from New York to the Riviera.
“I'm a true Niçois,” says Fred Allard, who might produce art to decorate New York lofts and exhibit in galleries from Tel Aviv to Singapore but for whom the Côte d’Azur is unmistakeably home. Everything started here and it's still here, in his Saint-Laurent-du-Var studio, that he creates his crystalline sculptures. “Ten years ago I took a long hard look at my life. I wasn't seeking radical change, I was more looking for meaning.” That epiphany led him to swap his role as a suited businessman in the ready-to-wear industry for that of a contemporary artist, his life turning on painting, sculpture and heightened emotions. “In practising art I found the real me. Once you're in tune with yourself, you're able to express all the emotions you have inside. My bags represent who I am. Through them I've finally been able to ‘empty my bag’.” [the French phrase for “let off steam”; trans.]
First steps
White canvases were Allard's first playground, but he quickly became obsessed with bags, collecting luxury accessories and confronting them with everyday items such as children's lollipops and coke cans, then fixing that contrast in translucent resin shaped like a bag, suitcase or perfume bottle. His first exhibition was 10 years ago in the Maud Barral Gallery that use to be in Nice's harbour district. “That's where things took off and Nicole of La Petite Maison came across my work – she often says she discovered me! She loved my work and invited me to show it in her restaurant. That was incredible good luck, everyone goes there, it's an international hangout in the heart of Nice.” Then dealers began to take an interest in his brightly coloured sculptures symbolising our society and its present-day codes, and finally the influential Galeries Bartoux opened the doors of their many international addresses to him.
Residence
Once launched Allard continued “emptying his bag” in a constant creative frenzy, guided by his greatest inspiration: fashion. He attends the shows, devours the specialist press and follows the fortunes of great couturiers, notably the impertinent Hedi Slimane and the much regretted Kaiser of Fashion, Karl Lagerfeld, the subject of Allard's first New York exhibition. Invited by the Eden Gallery to show in its 3000m² space in Manhattan's hip SoHo district, he produced a collection of 80-plus pieces, some huge, intended as a celebration of the life and achievements of Chanel's iconic creative director. “I invented a fictitious collaboration with him, reprised many of the label's codes and included allusions to his life.” Another exciting bit of news is that the sculptor has found himself a residence in Paris, specifically in the 6th arrondissement's legendary Hôtel Lutétia, where the artist's world and collections are to be displayed in collaboration with Galerie Bartoux. “A new story, a new chapter, this time lasting three years.”
Production secrets
Allard's interest in the Ecole de Nice means that although he has developed his own techniques, it's not hard to spot the influence of César's compressions and Arman's inclusions. Although readily owning up to this, he is also keen to point up the elements that differentiate him from his masters, notably that he leaves nothing to chance, meticulously composing, sorting and organising every one of the elements that make up his creations. His favourite artists? Basquiat, Jeff Koons, JonOne... they are many and varied. And we realise that he is suggesting we ordinary people “empty our bags” and turn our secrets into sculpture. Once fixed in resin, innocuous but symbolic things such as a lollipop, a watch case or a lipstick will testify for eternity to a personality, an era and a person's work.
Par Caroline Stefani
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