The La Ciotat Tourist Office will be hosting an exhibition of paintings by Gilbert Ganteaume, a painter and sculptor from La Ciotat, entitled Atlas, as well as a lecture/slide show on the theme of this artist's work.
22 November 2022: After 30 months of work, the La Ciotat shipyards are inaugurating their new dry docking platform for mega yachts, and its Atlas boat lift, the only one of its kind in France, with a lifting capacity of 4,300 tonnes. This tool of the future has been installed on the former No. 1 slipway, which has been the heartbeat of the shipyards and the people of La Ciotat for 131 years. Atlas symbolises the adaptation of a maritime heritage to the continuity of work and life.
Moved by this metamorphosis, Gilbert Ganteaume, a painter and former shipyard employee, shares with us his visions of Atlas, or the little port of La Ciotat seen through the prism of this giant high-tech work tool, heir to a long history of know-how and working life.
How did the Atlas site inspire the painter Gilbert Ganteaume?
1- Construction of the ATLAS boat lift
The construction of the 4,800-tonne boat lift, inaugurated on 22 November 2022, opens up the shipyard to the repair of 80/105 m mega-yachts, the world fleet of which is growing rapidly. With its technologically demanding equipment, it makes our shipyard a world leader.
The fact that it was built on the site of the number 1 slipway of the old shipyards symbolises the maritime reconversion of the site and the economic revival. Named Atlas, it is destined to carry the future of our shipyard on its shoulders for eternity.
2- One book, one visit
Two volunteers from the Maison de la construction navale set themselves the mammoth task of photographing every stage of the project. From demolition to earthworks, works and various fittings, everything was captured and recorded in a huge book entitled "Birth of the 4300T ATLAS lift". Authors: Bertrand Stantina (photos) and Gaston Neulet (text). Publisher: la MCN. Thousands of photos to make sure you don't miss a moment of this historic transformation.
3- Revelation
For an old-timer like Gilbert Ganteaume, this event left its mark on his work as a painter of materials, and gave rise to a series of new visions, as he immersed himself in the stages of the transformation.
A visit to the building sites, which opened their doors for the Heritage Days, did the rest. The artist had a vivid sense of the gigantism of this modern-day Atlas! Back in his studio, he began to paint his visions of the metamorphosis of the site where he has lived since he was born.
4- A new vision
In his 60 years of creative work, Ganteaume has dealt with almost every theme in life. Now, at the age of 91, his hands are bringing the familiar harbour back to life, with a new vision, suggested shapes and soft colours. Despite the layers of paint that are his signature, there's a certain lightness about the work, or at least a sense of reassurance that this revival of La Ciotat's naval expertise has brought to a new era. A second life, new hope.
A titanic project
A tremendous human adventure
As the director of La Ciotat-Shipyards points out
The chance to develop this maritime heritage that we have a duty to pass on," says the director of Mb92,
The Atlas, a construction that will have lasted from 2020 (destruction of the emblematic hull sector) to 2022, where La Ciotat-Shipyards is taking over from the shipyards with brio, after 131 years of good and loyal service (from 1856, when the 1st ocean liner was launched, to 1987, when the container ship Monterrey was built), underlines the president of the MCN.
Gilbert Ganteaume, painter and sculptor from La Ciotat.
Very attached to his home town, La Ciotat, he has tirelessly expressed his creativity over a generation of "life in La Ciotat". He is the author of public works such as the Memorial to the victims of asbestos on the port, or the triptych in the church, or the monument to the Resistance fighters (inside the building sites), or the monument to Peace (opposite the town hall).
The exhibition preview will take place on Wednesday 14 February at 11am.
A lecture/slide show will be held on Saturday 17 February at 3pm, on the theme of the artist's work, and will be presented by his daughter Christiane.
His next exhibition/retrospective is scheduled to take place at the Chapelle des Pénitents bleus in August 2024.
Moved by this metamorphosis, Gilbert Ganteaume, a painter and former shipyard employee, shares with us his visions of Atlas, or the little port of La Ciotat seen through the prism of this giant high-tech work tool, heir to a long history of know-how and working life.
How did the Atlas site inspire the painter Gilbert Ganteaume?
1- Construction of the ATLAS boat lift
The construction of the 4,800-tonne boat lift, inaugurated on 22 November 2022, opens up the shipyard to the repair of 80/105 m mega-yachts, the world fleet of which is growing rapidly. With its technologically demanding equipment, it makes our shipyard a world leader.
The fact that it was built on the site of the number 1 slipway of the old shipyards symbolises the maritime reconversion of the site and the economic revival. Named Atlas, it is destined to carry the future of our shipyard on its shoulders for eternity.
2- One book, one visit
Two volunteers from the Maison de la construction navale set themselves the mammoth task of photographing every stage of the project. From demolition to earthworks, works and various fittings, everything was captured and recorded in a huge book entitled "Birth of the 4300T ATLAS lift". Authors: Bertrand Stantina (photos) and Gaston Neulet (text). Publisher: la MCN. Thousands of photos to make sure you don't miss a moment of this historic transformation.
3- Revelation
For an old-timer like Gilbert Ganteaume, this event left its mark on his work as a painter of materials, and gave rise to a series of new visions, as he immersed himself in the stages of the transformation.
A visit to the building sites, which opened their doors for the Heritage Days, did the rest. The artist had a vivid sense of the gigantism of this modern-day Atlas! Back in his studio, he began to paint his visions of the metamorphosis of the site where he has lived since he was born.
4- A new vision
In his 60 years of creative work, Ganteaume has dealt with almost every theme in life. Now, at the age of 91, his hands are bringing the familiar harbour back to life, with a new vision, suggested shapes and soft colours. Despite the layers of paint that are his signature, there's a certain lightness about the work, or at least a sense of reassurance that this revival of La Ciotat's naval expertise has brought to a new era. A second life, new hope.
A titanic project
A tremendous human adventure
As the director of La Ciotat-Shipyards points out
The chance to develop this maritime heritage that we have a duty to pass on," says the director of Mb92,
The Atlas, a construction that will have lasted from 2020 (destruction of the emblematic hull sector) to 2022, where La Ciotat-Shipyards is taking over from the shipyards with brio, after 131 years of good and loyal service (from 1856, when the 1st ocean liner was launched, to 1987, when the container ship Monterrey was built), underlines the president of the MCN.
Gilbert Ganteaume, painter and sculptor from La Ciotat.
Very attached to his home town, La Ciotat, he has tirelessly expressed his creativity over a generation of "life in La Ciotat". He is the author of public works such as the Memorial to the victims of asbestos on the port, or the triptych in the church, or the monument to the Resistance fighters (inside the building sites), or the monument to Peace (opposite the town hall).
The exhibition preview will take place on Wednesday 14 February at 11am.
A lecture/slide show will be held on Saturday 17 February at 3pm, on the theme of the artist's work, and will be presented by his daughter Christiane.
His next exhibition/retrospective is scheduled to take place at the Chapelle des Pénitents bleus in August 2024.
