Gabriel Tabournel's return to art
In Hyères, house painter Gabriel Tabournel returns to drawing after a fifteen-year artistic hiatus.
Gabriel Tabournel is far from a typical artist. Born in Réunion and raised between Tahiti and France according to the assignments of his father, a navy officer, he works as an independent house painter.
Behind the professional who renovates apartments lies a visual artist trained at the Beaux-Arts de Toulon, where he earned a DNSEP (Diplôme National Supérieur d'Expression Plastique).
An encounter that changes everything
A chance meeting a little over a year ago changed everything. During a meal and a conversation about art, Marc Simo, director of the Salins des Pesquiers, sensed his intact artistic sensitivity and invited him to participate in the exhibition organized for the Salins festival, centered on an evocative theme: salt and white.
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Gabriel Tabournel then immersed himself in the world of the Salins, exploring the site and its visual archives. Images of salt crystals under a microscope particularly struck him: behind the apparent simplicity of salt, he discovered complex, almost architectural shapes.
From this fascination, a series of four drawing-installations emerged, designed as a journey: Vestige, inspired by the stakes seen in the salt marshes; Trame, a crystallized view of the site; Germe, a salt crystal enlarged from a microscopic photograph; and Seuil, which closes the path.
Fifteen years of artistic silence
For several years, drawing faded from his daily life. A few occasional projects remained, but the practice became rarer. Only recently did the urge to create return strongly, like a need to reconnect with an essential part of himself.
The Salins exhibition marked an important milestone: an assumed return to creation, nourished by a renewed look at his environment and the experience gained through his profession.
The choice of the Bic pen
The uniqueness of his work lies in his tool: the ballpoint pen, though he does not consider it an exclusive trademark — he also paints with acrylics, oils, and practiced spray-can graffiti.
For this series, the Bic pen imposed itself through coherence: the accumulation of lines it allows evokes, according to him, the complex construction of a salt crystal.
The technique is not without constraints. The pen's ink, driven by gravity, flows only in certain positions.
The medium is just as singular: a repair mesh originally intended to reinforce walls in construction. Stapled directly to the wall, covered with a white primer — the same finishing paint he usually applies for his clients — it becomes the surface for his drawings.
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The artist has already begun preparing new pieces. He mentions upcoming work focusing on the organic and texture.
To follow him
Instagram: Opus_gt
Article from the print edition of La Gazette du Var