Featured image: Shirley Monestier at l’Atelier 65 — Bordeaux, France
© Jean-Marie Monestier
As we wound down the COVID-19 PAGES exhibition in September 2021, we contacted our professional artists to ask about the impact the show had for them.
In reply, Shirley Monestier sent me the following message via email:
“As a result of my artwork inclusion in the Covid-19 Pages exposition, I have received more than 100 positive reactions to a congratulations!!
“The exposure was significant and put me on the map as a Black Female Artist in France. Since the Phase 1 Covid-19 Pages expo, I have had numerous request for podcasts and interviews. Thank you so much for the opportunity to shine a light on me and my art!”
Because of her exposure in our show, Monestier has mounted her first solo exhibition. It is being held in Bordeaux, France, the city she now calls home.
Monestier came to art late in life. She was inspired to learn to paint when she and her husband, Jean-Marie moved into a new home in the Paris suburb of Taverny in the early 1990s. She begin visiting galleries and artist studios in Paris with the intent to purchase works to decorate their home, but found that the price tags for the pieces she wanted to purchase exceeded the couple’s budget.
That prompted her to take art lessons so she could create her own paintings.
For two years, she took classes at the Municipal Centre d’Arts and Plastiques in Taverny (no longer in existence).
And she’s been painting and showing her work ever since!
Shirley Monestier with The Masks We Wear, her COVID-19 PAGES artwork
Image courtesy of the artist
Monestier’s one-woman show is called Multicultural Women in Vibrant Colors. It is on display at L’Atelier 65, a Bordeaux café/gallery located in an up and coming trendy area of the city called Chartrons. The gallery hosts a different artist each month, and when the owner reviewed Monestier’s portfolio, she immediately offered to organize the exhibition.
I asked Monestier why she created this show.
She replied,
“During the pandemic and confinement, I started painting a series of women. I wanted to complete a series of artworks because I knew opportunities would come my way after Covid-19 confinement was over. I just put it out in the universe and knew that an opportunity to showcase my artworks would come.
“I always wanted a solo exhibition…it was on my bucket list. We must always ask for what we want.”
The vernissage (opening) for Multicultural Women in Vibrant Colors was held on December 1, 2022. Monestier considered it a success because:
“I spoke with each of attendees who asked questions … the engagement was wonderful, so personal. The atmosphere at the event was warm and fuzzy-friendly. What was amazing is that all those attending stayed for the entire 2 hours – they did not want to leave! I had one sale and the possibility of more.”
Vernissage attendees
© Jean-Marie Monestier
Shirley Monestier (seated) and vernissage attendees
© Jean-Marie Monestier
Prior to Multicultural Women, Monestier had shown her work locally in France (Taverny and Paris) as well as in international exhibitions in the U.S. (Washington, D.C.) and Mexico (Puerto Vallarta). Shows include the month-long Fight Cancer fundraising exhibition at the Mona Bismarck American Center in Paris in 2007, Cherie Sibley Artists’ Exposition, Artist Without Borders, and Viva Mexico in Puerto Vallarta (2010, 2014, and 2015, respectively), and Viet Nam Orchids in Washington. D.C. in 2016.
Monestier has the following advice for professional women artists who want to establish themselves in France:
“Join art associations — you will receive information, encouragement, critiques, art exhibit exposure and a support group. Continue to promote yourself, have business cards, and always make art your first love!”
Once Multicultural Women in Vibrant Colors closes, Monestier plans to open a private home art gallery, where her works will be viewed by appointment only.
Her target date for opening is May 6, 2023.
To contact Shirley Monestier about her art, send email to shirley.monestier@neuf.fr.
