Villeneuve-sur-Lot: sculptor Christian Rampnoux marks the town with his bathers

After Jean-Pierre Rives, the bastide is paying tribute all summer to one of its talents, whose colorful work is instantly recognizable. Opening this Saturday, June 7

“Villeneuve-sur-Lot, spa town of happiness.” This is how Paul Guth described the fortified town. It is in homage to this writer - who was once his neighbor - that Christian Rampnoux gave this title to his exhibition. Until September 30 (1), 12 statues will brighten the town with their summer colors. After those of Jean-Pierre Rives two years ago , it is the works of this Villeneuve sculptor with an international career that will offer an artistic stroll all summer long, to regulars and tourists alike.

Eight locations were chosen to host them: the tourist office, the town hall, the Georges-Leygues theater, the sub-prefecture, the La Parenthèse tea room, the Place d'Aquitaine, the Post Office and the entrance to the Lakanal market hall.

It was in 1970 that Christian Rampnoux first entered the École des Beaux-Arts, then located on the site of the current tourist office. There, he took drawing classes with Maurice Fabre and painting classes with Pierre Raffi. “A few years later, in 1976, the school moved to a building in the current town hall, and Velimir Kovatchevski opened a sculpture class,” the artist recalls. “I joined out of pure curiosity, became his third student, and never left. This exhibition comes full circle because it allows me to exhibit works in all these places that are so important to me.”

Indeed, it was in his city that Christian Rampnoux studied the classical methods of 19th ^- century sculptors, to which he has always remained faithful. In 1992, he was awarded the Bordeaux City School of Fine Arts sculpture prize by Jacques Chaban-Delmas. "He tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'You're young, keep going!'" says the Villeneuve native. He added, with a mischievous air: "I kept going, but I didn't stay young."

After visiting the Cairo Museum and discovering the polychrome pieces from Tutankhamun's tomb, he introduced color into his works. He began by painting a large plaster sculpture that, in 2014, would be enthroned in the belfry of the Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois church in Paris.

The following year, in September 2015, he exhibited a dozen painted statues at the Galerie de Gajac. Today, his technique has evolved to incorporate contemporary materials. And while he always begins by modeling his piece in clay (around 180 kg for a life-size figure), he makes his molds in silicone before "pulling the resin."

His shimmering palette, his female characters (often bathers), this touch of modernity and humor combined with a contemporary style make his work recognizable among all. When asked about his style, he modestly replies: "In art, if you don't cheat. At a given moment, you simply strive to do your best." Perhaps that's what style is.

(1) Opening Saturday June 7, at 10:30 a.m., at the Tourist Office, followed, weather permitting, by a stroll to discover the works.