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Lita Cabellut / Coco Chanel - Opera Gallery

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356, rue Saint-Honoré 75001 PARIS – France - Tel (33-1) 42 96 39 00 paris@operagallery.com<br />

<strong>Lita</strong> <strong>Cabellut</strong> / <strong>Coco</strong> <strong>Chanel</strong><br />

October 14 th – November 19 th 2011<br />

COCO, the Testimony of Black and White<br />

Album prefaced by Grady Harp<br />

<strong>Coco</strong> <strong>Chanel</strong> as never seen before…<br />

<strong>Lita</strong> <strong>Cabellut</strong> is an artist of Gypsy origin who, like <strong>Coco</strong> <strong>Chanel</strong>, has followed a rather extraordinary<br />

path. With her latest exhibition, she perfectly and subtly translates the psychological intricacy of<br />

one of the world’s most famous fashion figures, interpreting the designer’s dark, mysterious side<br />

and bright, luminous soul: so many testimonies of <strong>Chanel</strong>’s love of black and white which became<br />

her signature.<br />

Through this series of 35 colossal portraits, the artist has - enfin! - freed the fashion icon from her<br />

glamorous stereotype, just as <strong>Coco</strong> <strong>Chanel</strong> changed the world by ridding women’s fashion from<br />

the confines of the corset in the 20s, leaving a legacy of pure elegance.<br />

<strong>Opera</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong>, an international art network that will soon boast 13 prestigious galleries around the<br />

globe, has been supporting <strong>Lita</strong> <strong>Cabellut</strong> and introducing her incredible talent to art institutions<br />

and collectors the world over for several years.<br />

<strong>Coco</strong> N°10: Mixed media on canvas 260 x 200 cm<br />

photo by John Tromp<br />

<strong>Coco</strong> N°2: Mixed media on canvas 280 x 210 cm<br />

photo by John Tromp<br />

Press agent<br />

Sylvie Robaglia + 33(0)6 72 59 57 34 sylvie@art-et-communication.fr<br />

www.art-et-communication.fr


My life didn’t please me, so I created my life »<br />

Although the words are <strong>Chanel</strong>’s, they could easily have been <strong>Cabellut</strong>’s. These two women<br />

have much in common: both began their lives in extreme poverty and had to fight to impose their<br />

unique style with amazing audacity…and talent!<br />

Born a gypsy in the earthy streets of Barcelona in<br />

1961, her father unknown, deserted by her<br />

prostitute mother at the tender age of three<br />

months, nurtured by her gypsy grandmother who<br />

refused to send <strong>Lita</strong> to school, handed over to an<br />

orphanage at age eight, <strong>Lita</strong> <strong>Cabellut</strong> slowly<br />

climbed the ladder of artistic success, starting with<br />

her studies at the Fine Arts School in Amsterdam<br />

(one of the world’s most reputed institutions).<br />

Her obsession with the Prado Museum at the age<br />

of 13, her admiration for Rembrandt and Francis<br />

Bacon, her sense of closeness with fellow<br />

countryman and artist Antoni Tàpies, were the<br />

spiritual and artistic nourishment that defined <strong>Lita</strong>’s<br />

style: a unique blend of representational rigor and<br />

eloquent strokes, where shape and emotion<br />

become one.<br />

<strong>Lita</strong> <strong>Cabellut</strong> - Crédit photo : Maarten Schets<br />

<strong>Lita</strong> <strong>Cabellut</strong>’s passion : the human condition<br />

n<br />

<strong>Coco</strong> <strong>Chanel</strong> built her own style just as <strong>Lita</strong><br />

<strong>Cabellut</strong> ‘builds’ her creations. The artist creates<br />

larger-than-life portraits, fashioning them with oil,<br />

plaster on linen, a painterly technique and<br />

procedure creating cracks on the surface of the<br />

canvas; a process which the artist has mastered<br />

and that enhances each piece’s visual power.<br />

Exhibiting throughout Europe and the United<br />

States since 1984, hailed by art critics<br />

everywhere, <strong>Lita</strong> <strong>Cabellut</strong> is famous for her<br />

provocative and stirring series that illustrate her<br />

definition of the human condition: prostitutes,<br />

clowns, transvestites, musicians, entertainers…<br />

Following her series on Frida Kahlo which sold out<br />

in London in February, 2011, <strong>Lita</strong> <strong>Cabellut</strong> is<br />

currently preparing her next project where she<br />

will take on one of the world’s tragic afflictions:<br />

mental illness.<br />

<strong>Lita</strong> <strong>Cabellut</strong> in her studio<br />

photo by Eddy Wenting


<strong>Chanel</strong>’s style in black and white…<br />

For <strong>Lita</strong> <strong>Cabellut</strong>, <strong>Chanel</strong>’s signature use of black and white is no accident but<br />

the obvious result of her life experiences. The rigorous orphanage upbringing<br />

would be a permanent source of inspiration, while white would become the<br />

perfect medium for expressing <strong>Chanel</strong>’s sweet victory over poverty and<br />

tragedy. To describe the woman who borrowed from bereavement the color<br />

of her little black dress, forever changing an exterior sign of sadness into<br />

elegance, <strong>Lita</strong> <strong>Cabellut</strong> winds up revealing a <strong>Coco</strong> we never knew: <strong>Coco</strong> as<br />

a young girl in simple garb, <strong>Coco</strong> exploring new horizons, and finally <strong>Coco</strong>,<br />

the ultimate woman, complete with strands of costume pearls and hats<br />

« In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”<br />

<strong>Coco</strong> <strong>Chanel</strong><br />

c<br />

<strong>Coco</strong> N°3: Mixed media on canvas 280 x 200 cm<br />

photo by John Tromp<br />

<strong>Coco</strong> N°4: Mixed media on canvas 280 x 200 cm<br />

photo by John Tromp<br />

About OPERA GALLERY<br />

Y<br />

<strong>Opera</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> is a network of 12 galleries founded in 1994 in Singapore by Gilles Dyan. Since then, new<br />

venues have been opened in Paris (1994), New York (2000), Miami (2003), Hong Kong (2004), London (2006)<br />

and Seoul (2007). Two sites now exist in Dubai (DIFC in 2008 and the Dubai Mall in 2010), followed by<br />

Monaco (2008), Geneva (2009) and a second gallery in Singapore in 2010. Each gallery boasts a prestigious<br />

location and the same ambitious philosophy. In the upcoming months, Gilles will launch a new venue in<br />

Beijing (1200 m2). Gilles’s concept is to sell masterpieces of Modern Art (Picasso, Miró, Braque, Chagall, etc.)<br />

while promoting contemporary artists. SEEN, David Mach, Gérard Rancinan and Ron Arad are already<br />

members of the <strong>Opera</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> dream team.<br />

Taking Fine Art beyond traditional art circuits and salons, Gilles Dyan decided to develop an international<br />

network for collectors and investors everywhere; his privileged contacts with the Who’s Who in international<br />

art, from institutions to museums around the world, have made <strong>Opera</strong> <strong>Gallery</strong> a major actor on the<br />

international art scene.

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