Abstract Art 2023
Abstract Art 2023
Las Laguna Art Gallery
September 7–29, 2023
A meditative oil pastel work exploring solitude through soft abstraction and chromatic whispers at Las Laguna Art Gallery.
Las Laguna Art Gallery's Abstract Art 2023 brought together a compelling selection of contemporary abstract works, showcasing the diverse approaches artists employ to transcend representational boundaries. Arnaud Quercy's contribution, Whispers of Solitude, emerged as a meditative anchor within the exhibition—a quiet counterpoint to more gestural works that invited viewers into a space of contemplative stillness. The group exhibition, held in the gallery's oceanside location along Laguna Beach's iconic Coast Highway, demonstrated abstraction's enduring capacity to communicate emotional truths beyond the limits of figuration.
Quercy's oil pastel work exemplifies a lyrical approach to abstraction rooted in chromatic sensitivity and material intimacy. The piece layers warm browns, dusty pinks, and pale yellows into a visual field where silence itself becomes expressive. Forms do not compete for attention but coexist in gentle dialogue, their soft edges and nuanced textures evoking the internal rhythms of solitary experience. Within the broader context of the exhibition, the work offered visitors a moment of pause—an invitation to slow down and attend to subtlety.
Whispers of Solitude participates in a tradition of abstract art that privileges emotional resonance over formal declaration. Quercy's handling of oil pastels reveals a commitment to surface as a site of accumulated feeling, where each stroke deposits not just pigment but intention. Light and shadow play across the layered marks, suggesting depths beneath the apparently simple composition. The work reclaims solitude not as absence or deprivation but as presence—the presence of self, memory, and breath inhabiting a meditative space.
Las Laguna Art Gallery has established itself as a vital platform for abstract expression on the Southern California coast, and Abstract Art 2023 continued this mission by presenting works that challenge and expand viewers' understanding of non-representational art. Quercy's inclusion alongside fellow exhibiting artists created a rich dialogue between different abstract vocabularies, from bold chromatic fields to intimate gestural explorations. The exhibition affirmed abstraction's continued relevance as a language for expressing what cannot be said in words alone.
Artist Statement
In Whispers of Solitude, I sought to give visual form to quietude—not the emptiness often associated with being alone, but the fullness that contemplative stillness can hold. The oil pastels became my collaborators in this exploration, their soft textures and blendable pigments allowing me to build layers of silence upon silence.
The warm browns, dusty pinks, and pale yellows emerged organically as I worked, each hue chosen for its capacity to evoke warmth without loudness, presence without intrusion. I wanted the forms to converse gently rather than declare, to suggest rather than insist. Solitude, in my experience, is not static—it breathes, shifts, and reveals itself gradually to those willing to remain still long enough to perceive it.
This work is an invitation to pause. In a world saturated with noise and demand, I believe there is profound value in creating spaces—whether physical or pictorial—where one can simply be. The surface holds memory, breath, and the quiet recognition that being alone with oneself can be a form of homecoming.
Logistics
Las Laguna Art Gallery is located at 550 S. Coast Highway A-1 in Laguna Beach, California. The gallery can be reached by telephone at 949-505-0950. This exhibition has concluded and is now archived. The online exhibition remains accessible through Artwork Archive, where visitors can view Arnaud Quercy's featured piece and explore additional works from the Abstract Art 2023 presentation at
Artwork Archive.
