Joelle Fabre stages first exhibition at Café 74 |23 May 2022

Joelle in the company of Sherlyn Faure, owner of Café 74

Last Friday, artist Joelle Fabre launched her first art exhibition at Café 74, Anse Royale.

Many know Joelle Fabre as a famous model and even had an agency promoting Seychellois talent.

And now with her first exhibition, we discover another side of her.

Since her earliest childhood in Brussels, Joelle has taken classes at the Academy of Arts in Ixelles, and made a decisive encounter with Médard Siegfried Tytgat (grandson of Edgard Tytgat) who gave her a whole new perspective to the technique of painting, coating with a knife, but at that time this way of painting did not appeal to her, finding herself too young to adhere to this dexterity.

Then a few years later, she immersed herself in the world of architecture and design at the Centre des Arts Décoratifs where she made another encounter with Valérie Kools-Fontibus (Master gilder).

In Europe, she only had time to paint for her friends, who pushed her to make a living from it.

Along the years, becoming a mother, travelling, she faced a new challenge…finding herself in the Seychelles. Having acquired more maturity in her art, she decided to reconnect with her passion to make it her main career.

Always so curious, Joelle remembers the advice of Tytgat and Valérie Fontibus and she now combines the knife and the gold leaf to deliver to her audience today – her vision of Floral Gold to Visual Art.

Joelle was always someone behind the scene and after many years she came back in the limelight. Timid but confident she shared with us that “At this first opening I was able to see the emotions of the guests myself (we followed the required health protocol) it was an intense moment...I am self-taught. I do intuitive painting. Each of my achievements allow me to express emotions, my mood and my unconscious. My art is above all an Art of Living and this is what I like to share... because it is the very meaning of art.”

The artist noted that she also shared her technique with other artists and that made it special too.

The accompanying photos show some of Joelle’s art work.

Vidya Gappy

Photos contributed by Joelle Fabre