Atelier Lea Lund and Erik K - Open for Business!

I first met Lea Lund and Erik K. at the African Stories exhibition at the Mu Gallery in January 2017.

The dynamic couple informed me that they'd soon be opening an atelier in the 11th arrondissement and promised to keep me informed. They were true to their word and invited Tom and me to their vernissage, which took place on March 31.

Vernissage invitation
It was a gorgeous day and the festivities had already gotten off to a great start by the time we arrived. People congregated on the cobblestones and the sidewalk in front of the atelier.

Guests gather in front of Lea Lund & Erik K atelier
© Discover Paris!
Lund and K happily posed for a photo before the crowd showed up. They are the epitome of grace and style!

Erik K and Lea Lund
© Discover Paris!
The photograph used for the invitation hung prominently on a wall at the left of the predominantly open space. K told me that dressed in one of Lund's kimonos and draped a scarf over his head to pose for this photo.

Photo for vernissage invitation on the atelier wall
© Discover Paris!

Front room of atelier
© Discover Paris!
Soon people began to filter into the atelier to appreciate the works inside.

Guests gather inside the atelier
© Discover Paris!

Lea Lund greets guests
© Discover Paris!

K and Monique Wells admire Erik, Paris, 2015 (Kind of Blue)
© Discover Paris!

Erik, Paris, 2015 (Kind of Blue)
© Discover Paris!
Though their magnificent photographs and engravings were hung throughout their freshly renovated space, Lund and K emphasized that they are not operating a gallery. Rather, this will be a work space, complete with a press, where they will create K's engravings.

Reproduction of Erik K engraving of Coco Chanel
© Discover Paris!
They will continue to live part time in Switzerland and travel the world to find more stunning backdrops for their photography.

Atelier Lea Lund et Erik K
3, cité Dupont
75011 Paris
Internet: http://lealund.com/

Bouquet of roses and silhouette of Erik K
© Discover Paris!

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African Stories - An Art Exhibition

Aude Minart, proprietor of the itinerant gallery La Galerie Africaine, has kicked off 2017 with a fantastic showing of contemporary African art at Mu-Gallery in the 9th arrondissement.

Mu-Gallery façade
© Discover Paris!
The exhibition, called Récits d'Afrique (African Stories), features the work of Wolé Lagunju, Gonçalo Mabunda, and Lea Lund and Erik K.

Récits d'Afrique invitation cards
© Discover Paris!
Wolé Lagunju marries Yoruba ceremony with the regalia of European royalty by coupling Gelede masks with fashions from the Dutch Golden Age and England's Elizabethan Era. Using the tradition of portraiture, he redefines the mask as an object in constant evolution and in dialogue with contemporary times.

Study of a Coiffure Doll
Wolé Lagunju
2016 Oil on canvas
© Discover Paris!

Ingenue (left) and Belle (right)
Wolé Lagunju
2016 Oil on canvas (both works)
© Discover Paris!
Lagunju hails from Nigeria and currently lives in North Carolina.

Gonçalo Mabunda is a Mozambican artist who grew up during his country's brutal, 15-year civil war. He learned to solder and to work with bronze and other metals at the atelier of a South African artist. Returning to Mozambique, he used these techniques to create works for the "Arms into Art" project. He fashions thrones from bullets, guns, artillery, and other weapons, inciting the viewer to reflect on the means through which leaders obtain and retain power.

Throne
Gonçalo Mabunda
Arms and munitions
© Discover Paris!
Mabunda currently resides in Mozambique. His work was displayed at the Venise Biennial in 2015. One of his thrones has a place in the permanent collection at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

The works that most captured my attention at this exhibition are the photographs created by Lea Lund and Erik K.

Erik K. and Lea Lund
© Discover Paris!
Swiss-born Lea Lund and Zaire-born Erik K. (né Erik Kongolo-Mabika) met in Lausanne in July 2011. Both are visual arts - Lund is a photographer, painter, sculptor and graphic artist and K. is an engraver and designer.

The first time she met K., Lund says she asked him to allow her to photograph him. She says they have been inseparable ever since.

The photographs in African Stories feature K. in various stances and stages of movement against a backdrop of magnificent architectural structures in cities throughout Europe. He is always impeccably dressed in the style that he has cultivated from a very young age. (K. designed the hat that he wears in the photos.)

Erik, Eglise de la Madeleine, Paris, September 2015
© Lea Lund & Erik K.
Image by Discover Paris!
This photograph of Erik at the Tiger and Turtle - Magic Mountain in Duisburg, Germany hangs in the window of the gallery. It faces the street so passersby can admire it.

Erik, Duisburg, Germany, June 2015
© Lea Lund & Erik K.
Occasionally, Lund selects natural environments as the setting for these photos. She retouches them by hand, giving them a weathered, vintage look.

Erik, Coney Island, NY 2014
© Lea Lund & Erik K.
Image by Discover Paris!

Erik, Saint-Tropez, 2014
© Lea Lund & Erik K.
Image by Discover Paris!
From haunting and riveting to whimsical and fanciful, these works will not fail to intrigue.

Lund and K. divide their time between Paris and Lausanne. They anticipate opening a studio in Paris' 11th arrondissement in 2017.

Originally scheduled to close on January 29, African Stories has been extended until Wednesday, February 1.

Entry is free.

Mu Gallery
53 rue Blanche
75009 Paris
Metro: Blanche (Line 2)
Telephone for Aude Minart: 06 60 24 06 26
Hours: Monday through Saturday, 12 noon to 7 PM; Sundays by appointment

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Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.

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