Artist Alexandre Benjamin Navet wraps Toulouse’s Hotel des Arts in colour

Photography: Luc Bertrand

Splashes of primary colour adorn the facade of the Hotel des Arts in Toulon – part of a commission by Alexandre Benjamin Navet for the city’s Summer in Toulon programme.

The fresco was organised by Villa Noailles arts centre and residency and sees the 19th-century structure become a canvas for the French artist and art director’s colourful pastel drawings.

Inspired by Toulon’s heritage, Navet has transposed his pastel sketches – geometric shapes, asymmetrical patterns and vibrant shades of ochre, green, blue and orange – onto the facade, draw attention to the neoclassical structure’s decorative elements.

‘One day, this work will disappear,’ Navet told France’s Telerama.’ We will not know if it existed or not. The photographic transcription will be his only trace. It will forever remain a reverie.’

Summer in Toulon runs until 31 October 2020