Illusions Perdues (2024)Mixed-media painting
by Annabelle Amory

50 x 50 cm - paper and acrylic on canvas - 2024

“Lost Illusions” is a not at all hidden reference to the eponymous book by Honoré de Balzac: as proof, it is this book itself which is stuck on the canvas. However, I did not have the courage to read the hundreds of pages of this work. I made it simpler: I saw Xavier Giannoli's film (2021), and the words resonated with me.

These lost illusions are indeed disillusionments, a gap between expectations, hopes and reality. This is what happened when I launched myself as a professional artist. I was naive and a little too trusting. I thought it was going to work, that the paintings would sell easily, that it would be enough to paint, that the galleries would accept me... And I was confronted with fashions, trends, paid exhibitions and fairs, competition, the predominant place of social networks and the lottery of their algorithms, business, hypocrisy... It was hard, it made me question myself. I have been holding on for almost 8 years now, having revised my objectives downwards, or even having removed all forms of objectives. Now I paint what I want, when I want. I post on social media without focusing on likes and comments, or the number of subscribers. I gave up on the idea of exhibiting in a gallery. I hardly organize openings anymore since it doesn't suit me. I actually let go of my dreams of notoriety to just focus on the essential: sending messages through my work.

Support: repentance of an old canvas.
Paper: Illusions Perdues, by Honoré de Balzac, found in a second-hand bookstore.

Materials used:

Paper and Acrylic on canvas

Details:

• Mixed-media painting on Canvas
• One of a kind artwork
• Size: 50 x 50 x 5cm (unframed)
• Ready to hang
• Signed on the front
• Style: Collage
• Subject: People and portraits

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