G&M Design gallery has unveiled its latest exhibition titled ‘Immerse’ by British artist Adam Bricusse, an incredible display of one man’s fascination with nature and featuring his jaw-dropping butterfly series.
It’s been a busy week for artist Adam Bricusse and G&M Design gallery owner Tina Green. After a beautiful inauguration dinner on Tuesday night, the pair were back in the gallery on Avenue Princess Grace on Wednesday evening for an opening cocktail with Monaco Ambassadors Club members.
Guests were treated to a private showing of the artist’s work; giant, colourful pieces that explode from the black walls of the Monegasque gallery as if they were always destined to be there.
In fact, Bricusse had just four weeks to prepare this exhibition after the scheduled artist cancelled unexpectedly, finishing five extra pieces in record time.
“I have never done a show with such short notice,” laughs Adam Bricusse. “Tina Green also wanted five extra paintings, so I worked from 5am to midnight for four weeks solid. It normally takes about a month to complete one piece.”
A month seems rather short when you see the detail of these masterpieces. The illuminous butterfly wings, purposely created without bodies to reflect the ethereal nature of the insect, are mesmerising in their complexity. It is as if someone placed a giant magnifying glass over the canvas, revealing the intricate details of a butterfly’s natural beauty.
And that’s exactly what happened to Bricusse 30 years ago, thanks to the British natural scientist and author Dame Miriam Rothschild.
“In the 1990s, Miriam Rothschild gave me access to her entire butterfly collection and allowed the glass to be removed. So, with my micro lens, I got all my source material years ago,” reveals the artist. “And I play with them, I manipulate the colours, blur them, and make them look like they’re moving.”
In addition to the well-known Butterfly paintings is his Scarab series, both of which have evolved and progressed over the years and are now almost exclusively done as commissioned work. It is therefore quite a coup for Monaco to have them on public display at the gallery.
Depending on the subject, says Bricusse, he will also use drawing (his favourite technique) or silk screen in addition to paints, giving the pieces different finishes so each is unique. “Sometimes I crack them, or I dust them with gold. The ones here have an iridescent paint on them, which shines in white and blue in the light,” he says. “They just couldn’t look better against these black walls.”
Adam Bricusse was born in London in 1964 and grew up between Britain, France and the USA. He was educated at St. Martins School of Art and The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art at Merton College, Oxford, and has been a practicing artist ever since. He currently works between studios in London and the south of France.
G&M Design gallery always features young, collectable contemporary art, and Tina Green says she is very happy with her latest exhibit.
“I am thrilled to have Adam’s work here, I absolutely love what he does. I love his oils, his butterflies. I think he is an incredibly talented artist and a very nice man,” she tells Monaco Life.
Other highlights of ‘Immerse’ include animal drawings, his spaceman series, 3Ds, and the Queen silk screens, created for Art Save the Queen in London and recreated for this Monaco exhibition.
‘Immerse’ by Adam Bricusse will be on show at G&M Design gallery until September.
Visit Monaco Life’s Instagram page for videos of the exhibition, and click on the gallery below to see more photos from ‘Immerse’…
Photos by Monaco Life, top picture source G&M Design gallery