Chelo Simon

A Critical Reflection

With the kind collaboration of Chelo Simon

To meet Chelo Simon is to discover not only the artist, but also the deep humanity that inhabits him. His warm welcome, his infectious laughter, his simplicity and his good humor instantly create a climate of trust.Presentation

Chelo Simon, a visual artist of Spanish origin, has established herself as an emblematic figure of contemporary art. Born in Alcoy and strongly rooted in her country of origin which she left prematurely, she transcends geographical and artistic borders. His work is marked by a quest for identity and resilience.

Trained at the Beaux-Arts of Valence, Simon's career is anything but linear. A significant break took her away from her artistic vocation, plunging her practice into a period of dormancy. This latency, however, proved to be a preparatory phase for a creative renaissance.

This artistic renewal began in the workshop of Dominique Bonnet Moreau, who encouraged Chelo to "unlearn", to deconstruct her artistic preconceptions, to embrace uncertainty and to reinvent her relationship to creation. The intervention of the artist FX Combes then marked a new stage in the evolution of Chelo. His suggestion of working in series, with repetitive processes where repetition becomes an act of creative differentiation, initially perceived as preposterous, proved to be a powerful catalyst for transformation.

Today, in his workshop, a true microcosm of creativity, Chelo Simon dialogues with jute, a raw, resistant and restrictive material. An intense and sensory struggle takes place between the Artist and the artist, between the artist and the fiber material. From this frontal and brutal combat a unique force is born. Chelo's works, assembled without nails, screws or glue, are held together by "The Force of Links", an expression that evokes notions of solidarity and human interconnection.

“My work seeks to represent constraint that is both creative and liberating. It represents my chaos, source of difficulties and resistance. We must be able to accept destruction and disruptive disorder in order to then be able to welcome the aftermath of chaos: builders and bearers of an innovative breath” – Chelo Simon

Chelo favors raw materials and a palette of brown, gray and red tones, colors symbolizing earth and blood, evoking life and struggle. However, she does not impose any chromatic restrictions, demonstrating an openness to the unexpected and the diversity of human experiences.

Chelo Simon embodies, through his career and his practice, a vision of art as a continuous exploration of self and matter. His works are a tangible manifestation of the struggle between order and chaos, artist and material, leading to authentic and resilient creation. So, Chelo Simon doesn’t just produce art; it offers a profound discourse on the human condition and the transformative power of the creative act.

FAILLES/RUPTURES
Exhibition from September 7 to October 31 at the Fundación Mutua de Levante in Alcoy.
Alcoy, a mountainous town with many geological fractures, resonates with Chelo's personal fractures.