Le chant de la Sybille

Olympe Racana-Weiler is such a young artist (born in 1990) that it is difficult to affirm truths about her painting, so much so that she might contradict everything we say in the years to come. This uncertainty makes even more salient the salvos of compliments she has received from the most experienced art critics, following the prizes she has won (the Prix Marin and the Prix Pierre Cardin, both in 2018) and her exhibitions at the Eric Dupont Gallery. "The color explodes" thus enthused Olivier Cena, aptly comparing her maelstrom of colors and shapes to the work of Cecily Brown. It is true that the paintings of Olympe Racana-Weiler give the contemporary painting lover a rare feeling of joy, and even exaltation, thanks to a harmony that is never mawkish, a richness of matter that is never exaggerated, an energy that is never violent. Such a gift for balance is all the more appreciable for a young artist as she expresses herself in the language of abstraction which, after having known its decades of glory, has faded in the eyes of the younger generations who appreciate in figuration the possibility of expressing a discourse or constructing a narrative. The masterful work Le Chant de Sybille (Song of the Sibyl) that she created for the Hôtel Richer de Belleval and the Fondation GGL-Hélénis, an entire room that has become a painted grotto, is a unique opportunity offered to her talent, but also a song of hope for all lovers orphaned by the mysteries of abstraction.