Jean-Bernard Lalanne

Jean-Bernard Lalanne is one of these atypical painters both in terms of his curriculum and his eclecticism. The Couserans owes him the restoration of many churches and chapels: Saint-Lizier-d'Ustou, Faup, Salau, Aulus.

Renovations to which he has always brought a personal touch while respecting the religious character. To discover his favorite themes, some of which border on passion, all you have to do is visit his workshop.

The visceral, carnal love he has for the cultures of the South is striking, he who welcomed a Siberian painter.

After having obtained the artistic “alternative” in the arenas of Bayonne, during the Plazza del Arte, Spain remained to be conquered. Under the courtyard of the Ercé school, a gigantic 9 x 1.5 m fresco, made up of seven paintings, testifies to his recent foray into Andalusia.

Listen to the Béarnais: “This painting is the reconstruction of the Rocio. The Rocio is an Andalusian ghost town, between Seville and Cadiz, which comes alive once a year, during a huge bacchanal country festival. A secular event that has resisted all times, even Francoism, displacing entire populations on the Wednesday before Pentecost. "In the colors, the movement, the characters, we can guess a mixture of faith materialized by the" Simpecado ", statue of the Virgin, pulled by oxen, of paganism.

From this endless procession, where the sober outfits of the riders contrast with the brightly colored dresses of the buxom Andalusians, a strong impression of fervor, sensuality and sharing emerges. Through this fresco, Jean-Bernard traces with talent an exceptional moment in life. These moments when everything is forgotten, where only the pleasure of participating counts, without make-up or artifice. A moment whose excesses are exonerated from taboos, dogmas and intolerances, without ever overshadowing authenticity.