Something tells us that Ladislas Kijno would have approved of this pictorial journey. Twelve years after his death, this master of abstraction, specialist in the technique of crumpling and spraying on canvas, is surrounded by a sublime retrospective on his adopted lands. A single exhibition would unfortunately not have been enough to unlock the secrets of this meteor of informal painting; this is why the Béthune-Bruay region offers us an XXL stroll structured around 180 masterpieces of modern art, so many chapters just waiting to be discovered. The first opens in Labanque with a gallery of pebbles from the seabed and its homage to Guillaume Apollinaire. From the 150 works displayed here, the poetic galaxy of Ladislas Kijno slowly takes shape. Author of a crumpled, deliciously mishandled work, the artist scatters his stars on the canvas with large splashes of projections and aerosol spray, evoking the practice of a pioneer of street art. Change of scenery in Noeux-les-Mines. Kijno the explorer gives way to the committed painter, fervent admirer of Pablo Neruda and Nelson Mandela. Further still at the Saint-Pry Cultural Space, it is its exceptional Chemin de Croix created with the complicity of Robert Combas which takes us to another universe. Three satellite exhibitions come together to conclude this masterful foray into the heights of abstraction.

In several locations in Béthune, Bruay-la-Buissière and Beuvry
From March 23 to August 4, 2024

Labanque in Béthune
The Kijno donation in Noeux-les-Mines
The Saint-Pry cultural space in Béthune
The city of electricians in Bruay-La-Buissière
The House of Poetry in Beuvry
The Comedy of Béthune