ENSEMBLE REEL

Behind the pseudonym of Ensemble Réel hide two brothers:
Hugues, 31 years old and Medy, 35 years old.

Having grown up in Ris-Orangis (91) with a sculptor father and a mother passionate about manual work, they are immersed in a rich and diversified cultural universe, visiting the capital's museums and regional exhibitions. It is in this context that the brothers, true free electrons, initiate themselves to drawing and painting.

In adolescence, this initially recreational practice evolves into a real passion with the discovery of graffiti. They handle their first bombs, try their hand at lettering before creating characters that they will come to pose between the blazes of their friends of the time.

It was in 2017 that the idea of collective works led to the birth of the duo Ensemble Réel. From then on, Hugues and Medy launched a four-handed production; their two universes bringing nuances and stories to each other. They try different techniques (stencil, acrylic, brushes, bombs) to find their own style. Wild collages in Paris are followed by frescoes. The brothers abandon the stencil, preferring the freedom of gesture that is found in their live performances as well as in their monumental creations.

Their artistic work, both on canvas and in the public space, evolves over the years. He integrates more marked artistic identities, more advanced and experimental techniques with the work of different materials integrated into their works.

Since 2017, Ensemble Réel has participated in collective and individual exhibitions, festivals and participatory urban planning projects. Since they set up their workshop in Montreuil, they have multiplied collaborations (Wekup, Raf Urban, The Mouarf).

/// The Exhibition " Fragments " ///

Life is a complex equation, of which we are the result. Like a hurricane, it takes pieces of us with it, brings new ones. From these missing or new parts, from these cracks which will be consolidated again with the work of time, we are moving forward. We evolve into nuanced beings, with their share of shadows and lights, their lacks and their riches. Some fragments are left out to make room for others or out of necessity; some are kept preciously in the hope of being able to give them meaning, consistency with regard to the whole, as a necessary step to move forward.

How do these fragments of life compose us? How to combine them in harmony? What is our relationship to our own path of life, sometimes full of pitfalls? What is the place of the other, of their gaze, of their support in our construction?

It is in these perspectives that we set about creating, imagining and constructing the FRAGMENTS exhibition. It is also telling our own journey. The story of two brothers with parallel lives who end up resonating through similar and simultaneous ordeals. The duo Ensemble Réel was born out of this period of trial and error, with this quest for self that leads to melancholy, resistance, dreams and ideals.

In the works presented, we play on the superposition of materials to compose or break down various subjects and bring to light new pieces of the puzzle. Memories, or hopes? We do not want to offer a single reading for each painting, but on the contrary, leave room for dialogue and sharing. It is up to the spectator to embellish the story and to appropriate it through the prism of their own experience.

Like kintsugi, this Japanese art that repairs and sublimates broken objects by revealing their fractures with gold dust, we want to offer an ode to the beauty of our stumbling but proud trajectories, an ode to resilience. Here we hope to patch up bodies and heal souls.