⚑ THALIE B. VERNET ILLUMINATES THE NATIONAL CIRCLE OF ARMIES
by Josephine Roney / February 2022
https://www.citizen-k.com/thalie-b-vernet-cercle-national-des-armees/
Thalie Vernet de Beaulieu’s photo series urca and Altona , already exhibited in Bordeaux and Toulouse in 2020 and in Paris in 2021, is inspired by a fairy tale, as fascinating and mysterious as the photographer.
A forest in ancient times, a golden age populated by magical characters and men, the advent of a new world, not far from thalie’s daily life and her horse rides on the banks of the Ourcq River. His favorite place to dive his models dressed in veils and have fun with the light and currents, seeking to awaken the soul of the fairies who inhabit this place. The charm does not seem to operate only on the fairies given the recent news of the artist.
Like her works, Thalie Vernet de Beaulieu is surprising, difficult to identify at first glance. Entirely, it manages to mark the minds of all those who cross its path. Recently, it is the attention of Colonel Patrick Lempereur, Director of the Cercle National des Armées, that she has been able to retain. He who admits to having no artistic talent takes to heart his mission to welcome artists to entertain loyal members at home. Until then, it was always the painters of the army who were exhibited at the Circle and lined the walls of their works. These usually feature cannons, military horses or wounded men. Far from the photographs of naked people, sometimes leaving doubt about their gender that are the pride of Thalie. The Colonel explains that he wanted to “open the mind” of the members, whose average age is 68 years. It was he himself who launched a call to discover new artists, then a mysterious matchmaker advised him the photographer. The first love at first sight was without appeal when he discovered her work, explains the Colonel, before adding that the second took place by meeting her in person. The current, as unexpected as it is, immediately passed between them. An alchemy that seems contagious since despite the apprehensions, most of the feedback on the exposure is dithyrambic, so much so that it was decided to extend it by two weeks. A triumph for the first non-member artist to be exhibited at the Cercle! But the fruitful collaboration does not stop there since the daughter of a soldier who has always had a certain admiration and a deep respect for officers was inducted on February 2, making her the first civilian to join the Circle without having received the Legion of Honor.
Exhibition visible at the Cercle National des Armées until February 11, 2022
T. 06 58 56 86 19 – www.oneofakind.fr
