Virginie Cétaire

"Nous avons le grand plaisir de vous informer que la commission supérieure des récompenses de notre société académique vous a décerné un diplôme de médaille de bronze. Nous aurons l'honneur de vous remettre officiellement ce diplôme lors de notre grande fête annuellle qui aura lieu le dimanche 1er avril 2007 à 15 heures dans les salons du Pavillon Dauphine - place du Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny à Paris XVI°"

Born in 1975 in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, Virginie Cétaire before becoming a graphic designer first studied graphic arts in Paris and at the Institute Saint-Luc in Tournai.
Self-taught photographer, she queried light and attempted to tame reflections, rythms and shadows.

Such a dual education -despite doubts and breakthroughs- has provided a strong basis for what we should name her calling. A series of aquarelles are its forerunner.

When in 1999 she met with Vasile Sparatu in Biarritz, this meant a decisive turn. He acquainted her with the subtle technique of mixing oil and golden leaf.
Now working in Montpellier, the lucid passion she inherited from him remains ever present. With persistence, she measures herself to the impossible challenge of painting.

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Her tools include the hand, paintbrush, brush and knife ; her main medium : oil on canvas or paper. The gleam of a gold leaf heightens more abstract lines, finely setting them off.
Virginie Cétaire elects deep reds, ochres and « lighter » hues of yellow, orange or white.
Burning palette ! Space is dissolved or constricted ; she lends rythm to the expanse, enables colour to breathe into shadows.

Hollowing then throwing light upon the land of her secret inner world, her inclination towards the universal prompts her to allow us to enter it – a witness to the other’s gaze.
Her seal of distinction it to accurately transcribe a fleeting moment, a flow of emotions ; to welcome light and play with transparence, letting it come through. As if the breath of inspiration became one with the surge from our very depths and the furthest canvas edges.



She likes to ferret out the strange wild countries accessible to the child’s eye only - a guileless eye grown old with « seeing ».
Translating her work into words pains her. Confronted with the resounding world of her paintings, she elects silent gestures.
To create is to slowly endure the awakening of our own invisible birth.

« To reveal my world, I must fade away. To paint is my way of life -musing over life. »

- Prix du Public aux journées de l'art de Grabels, mars 2007
- Médaille de bronze décerné par la commission supérieure des récompenses de la société académique d'éducation et d'encouragement "Arts - Sciences -Lettres"
- Prix du Jury aux Journées de l'art de Grabels, avril 2006
- Prix de la ville au Salon des peintres et sculteurs de Pignan, décembre 2005
- Prix Désiré Baliner au Cimaises d'automne de Vendargues, octobre 2005
- Prix du Public au S.A.M.I de Perpignan, septembre 2005
- Prix du Jury au Salon International de Quissac, septembre 2005