Robert le Héros : Solar de verão

For the last fifteen years, Laurent Gélis has lived between Paris and Rio de Janeiro. He runs Robert le Héros, a bold lifestyle brand that brightens up our homes with unique colour ranges and generous graphics. In everything he does, the artistic approach is at the forefront, as is the idea of timelessness. He is determined to show his love of Brazil, its different territories and his desire to share his emotions. Robert le Héros Art was born in 2020, in a painting workshop in Brazil, fuelled by the ambition to show a new poetic and colourful artistic work. His first exhibition in Rio was a great success, with many collectors turning up. The most famous, Mario Testino, bought half the paintings for his MATE museum in Lima. Through his paintings, Laurent Gélis takes us on a beautiful journey across Brazil, discovering mythical places such as Paraty, Trancoso, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Inhotim in Minas Gerais.

Laurent, what are your sources of inspiration?

I moved to Rio in 2005, and through my work I want to show the beauty of Brazil and its different regions. The modern, graphic architecture of Oscar Niemeyer, and more recently that of Marcio Kogan, are major influences for me. The Bahaus wanted to build a new world with a social vocation of equality; mine is imaginary and colourful, aimed at everyone without elitism. Magical architecture, intense places, poetic landscapes, abstract cities and the evocation of carnival are the sources of inspiration for my paintings.

What is your creative process?

Initially, I take photos of places that enchant me. They are selected on the basis of the purity of the lines, the beauty of the shapes, the masses, the perspectives they offer, the imaginary shadows... a set of fundamental elements for retranscribing the emotion experienced. Reinterpreted with sensitivity, the simplified graphics thus created serve as the basis for my painting. Then colour comes in. Several years ago, I studied Colour Geography with Jean-Philippe Lenclos, one of France's leading colourists in urban planning, architecture and industry. In my paintings, I take great care to build up colour ranges identified during my long observation sessions. The choice is made from an inventory of colours gathered from photographs, samples of materials collected and objects hunted down.

What do you want to share through your work?

Above all, it's the immense joy of sharing the emotion I felt when discovering these places and these architectures. I spent a lot of time loving them, looking at them and making them my own. It's also the desire to share my wonder at the associations of colours and abstraction that take everyone where they want to go. A work of art is indestructible, essential, the opposite of ephemeral. When you've made a profound choice of a painting, you'll never want to part with it. It's this encounter that interests me. Viewers who are sensitive to the images of Brazil can project themselves as they wish by discovering these radiant masses and take the journey they want.

Robert le Héros : Solar de verão: Brazilian inspirations

Laurent, what are your sources of inspiration?

What is your creative process?

What do you want to share through your work?

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