Until June 26, 2026, the hall of the Departmental House is hosting an exhibition of Hadrian de Corneillan. Through the series Fais dodo and The Archeology of the Child, the Gard artist confronts the colorful memories of childhood with the desolate landscapes of a new world.
At the center of a monochrome decor, made up of charred trees and a devastated landscape, colorful drawings from childhood emerge. Smiling clouds, bright sun, animals and joyful nature. The contrast is striking. He confronts the innocence of the childish gaze with the reality of the contemporary world.
In search of lost innocence
Among the most intimate and personal works of Hadrian de Corneillan, the Fais dodo and The Archeology of the Child series occupy a special place. They reflect a deep reflection on memory, childhood and the gap between the world we have known and the one in which we live today. “The world we know today is no longer that of our childhood”confides the Gard artist. We grow up imagining becoming adults in a universe similar to the one that rocked our first years. However, once adults, we discover that this world has profoundly changed. Landscapes, landmarks, values and sometimes even living conditions that seemed immutable to us have disappeared or been transformed.
Hadrian by Corneillan • @Yannick Pons
It is this awareness that the artist, based in Argilliers where he has his studio, explores. In these two series, Hadrien de Corneillan drew on his own memories by faithfully reproducing the drawings he made at the age of five or six, preciously preserved by his mother. These childish images, full of color, naivety and hope, are integrated into vast desolate landscapes, marked by destruction, fire, solitude or the traces of a disappeared world.
During the opening, Patrick Malavieille, vice-president of the Department for Culture, welcomed “the quality of work” of Hadrian by Corneillan and “the strength of his imagination”. Recalling the Department’s commitment to artistic creation and cultural education, he stressed that “Culture is certainly not a compulsory skill, but it is certainly not optional: it is essential”. An invitation to rediscover, through the eyes of the child, our relationship to time, memory and the world around us.
Practical information
Exhibition: Hadrian de Corneillan
Dates: June 3 to 26, 2026
Location: Hall of the Departmental House
Enter free
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