Huguette Caland: 1964 – retrospective at the Beirut Exhibition Center is an absolute delight. Hugette’s love for life is very palpable; it is clear that she approaches her pieces with great honesty and a wild sense of humor as she often times flirts with the erotic. As someone who never wore a watch this retrospective has little to do with time but rather how Huguette continues to live her life to the fullest through these mediums and colors.
Born in Beirut in 1931, she is the daughter of the First President of Lebanon. She spent her life in Lebanon and also established a life in France and California where she often goes in search of inspiration and the unexpected.
By the age of fourteen she had started drawing and her room quickly filled with images of people and crowds. She worked through life’s many challenges, recovering from a serious accident and the slow loss of her father, with a big paint brush and even larger canvas.
Caland: “Je ne porte pas de montre…L’important est de combler son temps avec ce que l’on aime faire, ou avec ce que l’on croit faire le mieux et avec le plus de plaisir. C’est un grand luxe de remplir ainsi afin de mieux le savourer. Si la mort nous surprend, alors qu’on fait ce que l’on a choisi de faire, on meurt sans envie de mourir, mais pas trop malheureux de quitter cette vie qu’on arrive a tant aimer en depit de tout ce que l’on sait de malheurs, d’injustice et de souffrances. La patience developee au long des annees m’a servi a repouser la terreur de vivre et de mourir. Plus je passe de temps sur une toile ou un papier, plus je me donne l’illusion de prolonger la vie.”
For more details on Caland’s exhibit visit Beirut Exhibition Center Page
yawmeya(r)t 