In past times, when la Joyeuse Fête wasn’t just Karine and I getting as sloppy as politeness will bear on other people’s liquor and dancing in New Year at a German opera, my son Boo’s enthusiasm for progress and self-improvement would sometimes flag.
In such moments of childish despair, I would wag my index finger gravely and say to my sweet boy, “Soft trousers, Boo. Soft trousers, man”.
He would laugh and buck right up, as if I’d popped a Sugar Puff Blaster into that cute little cupid-bow bouche.
“Soft trousers” is our way of naming "true progress".
It was our little joke then, as it still is now.
It comes from reading Raymond Briggs’ Ug: Boy Genius of the Stone Age. Briggs is also the author of that
sublime Winter’s Tale, The Snowman.
Ug, the boy genius, was the first to see that soft trousers would be a vast improvement over stone trousers. Lucky for us. How then in stone trousers would we dance Salsa? And what would tailors be?
As well as lifting and soothing Boo’s progress-and-improve blues, Ug also commented my own childhood without my having to utter a single word. This interested my Boo, you bet.
Achieving soft trousers requires genius and good humor, certainly, but, especially, a vision and footwork.
Giving potential art-buyers an opportunity to look at a wide but manageable variety of the visual work of artists that gallerists, exhibitors and fellow creators think are the best on the market, Florence Lucas’ La Petite Collection has achieved soft trousers in the realm of appreciating and buying visual art.
Each Petite Collection creator produces two 10cm x 15cm (4- by 6-inch) originals that sell for an affordable 150€ apiece. And, as over its three previous years, the Petite Collection will this year present examples of work by not fewer than 100 contemporary visual artists in postcard format. A complete list of contributors figures at the end of the article.
Creator contributors are selected by Lucas who, with the help of
friends and colleagues, puts together a list of the best work encountered at galleries and exhibitions during the year past. She makes her call for contributions in Spring.
Contributors may be entirely new on the scene or have already shown. New or established artist or not, the selection process means that artists are effectively vetted twice – by the gallerist or exhibition curator, as well by Lucas.
Lucas says she makes her choice of
contributors on what she calls the “interest” of their work in terms of intention, theme and esthetic result. The number of artists on show and the technical challenge of making a miniature along with format make for interesting comparisons.
But, especially, taken together, the selection
and technical conditions of production mean that the quality of the works on show is so uniformly high that you find yourself considering intentions and themes that would not ordinarily get your attention.
In addition to the physical exhibition, La Petite Collection produces a lovely catalogue – you can collect past years as well as this one’s to get a sense of whose doing what and getting along over time.
Works can be ordered on the internet during and after the physical show.
La Petite Collection Images
For information on the project, click Contact.
Artists contributing to the 2018 La Petite Collection, 4ème Edition
Laurent Ajina Pat Andrea Mateo Andrea Sylvain Azam Azul Clément Bagot Caroline Ballet Pauline Bazignan Diane Benoit du Rey Gwenaël Billaud Mireille Blanc Ana Bloom Charlie Boisson Nathalie Borowski Léonard Bourgois Beaulieu Bufalino Benedetto Joachim Biehler Bruno Bressolin Marta Budkiewicz Bufalino Benedetto Dana Burns Antoine Carbone Marcos Carrasquer Marion Charlet Mathieu Cherkit Gaëlle Chotard Mamadou Cissé Côme Clérino Célia Coette Guiillaume Constantin Jules Cruvellier Coraline de Chiara Grégory Derenne Luc Doerflinger Hélène Duplantier Cornelia Eichhorn Yoann Estevenin Jean Charles Federico Gabriel Folli Olivier Garand Julia Gault Daniele Gibrat Laurence Annie Gossart Paul Gounon Guacolda Michel Guéranger Cécile Hug Charlotte Jankowski Christine Jean Chloe Julien Lucie Le Bouder Sophie Lecomte Nicolas Leto Thomas Levy Lasne Maud Louvrier Florence Lucas Ferdinand Makouvia Kokou Oscar Malessène Rachel Marks Anahita Masoudi Alexane Morin Quentin Naudeau Daniel Otero Torres Aurore Pallet Guillaume Pelloux Laurent Pernot Tanc Nelson Pernisco Clémentine Poquet Baptiste Rabichon Sandrine Rondard Christina Ruiz Guinazu Alice Schneider Nathalie Sizaret Lise Stoufflet Florian Sumi Isabelle Taourel Victoire Thierrée Anne Touquet Maxime Touratier Clarisse Tranchard Rémi Uchéda Marine Wallon