The singer Denez Prigent, major voice ofright ha diskanand about thepoemFor three decades, he has exhibited his drawings for the first time in Paimpont, on the edge of the Brocéliande forest. Under the titleIn the ink of legendsthe exhibition reveals a more discreet facet of his artistic work: a corpus of plates in black ballpoint pen, populated with Celtic symbols, dreamlike landscapes and figures taken from an imagination deeply rooted in the material of Brittany. To view for free on two complementary sites until the end of June.
A little-known facet of a great performer
Denez Prigent, born in Santec in 1966, has established himself since the mid-1990s as one of the most unique singers on the Breton scene, capable of recording thepoem traditional — this long and narrative lament of the Vannetais and Leonardo funds — in contemporary forms, sometimes open to electronics, without ever betraying the matrix. His successive albums – now classicsI hold a golden spark in me (1997) jusqu’aux récents Stur an Avel(2021) andTonn aheada tribute to sea shanties – made him recognized beyond the Breton borders as one of the most demanding transmitters of the Armorican vocal heritage.
What the public knows less is that the artist, a student in Rennes, had followed a visual arts course. The cover ofStur an Avelin 2021 – a sailboat whose mast transformed into a tree – had already been drawn by his hand, without many paying attention to it.In the ink of legends extends this graphic commitment by giving it full public visibility for the first time.
A graphic universe with a black ballpoint pen
The technical choice has something austere, almost monastic. Denez Prigent works with a ballpoint pen, exclusively in black and white, without concession to color. The constraint is not trivial: it forces the discipline of the line, obliges us to compose by the density of the line rather than by the chromatic effect, and gives the corpus a rare coherence. On the exposed boards, we find obsessive recurrences – spheres, crosses, moons, lighthouses, stars, tight patterns repeated endlessly – which make up a universe that is both personal and universal.
The iconography visibly draws from the same sources as the vocal work: Celtic world, legends, maritime landscapes of Léon, fantastic figures, ships, symbolic animals, traces of spirituality. The works do not seek to illustrate a repertoire; they dialogue with it, like two sides of the same quest.poem advances in long stanzas, the drawing advances in patient lines; but it is a question, in both cases, of exhausting to the line what resists speech.
The exhibition is designed in two stages, two places and two rooms, to allow the visitor to gradually enter into this interior coherence. This is precisely what the argument put forward by the organizers sums up: a man inhabited by the faith, legends and beliefs of a people and a territory.
Two complementary locations in Paimpont
The first part of the exhibition was installed in December 2025 at the Brocéliande exhibition hall, adjacent toThe Door of Secretsthe interpretation center located on Place Saint-Judicaël in Paimpont. The exhibition has already attracted nearly ten thousand visitors in a few months – a success which justifies its extension until the end of June 2026, on the occasion of which a second part was opened on April 2 in the Salle des Écrouettes, at Paimpont Abbey.
The two sites are barely a few hundred meters apart and can be visited consecutively, on foot. The Salle des Écroouettes offers a complementary display which sheds light on the artist’s universe from a more contemplative angle: you have to take the time for both to grasp the whole. Access is completely free, during opening hours of the tourist office.
Please note: Denez Prigent was present at the signing on Friday May 8 and Saturday May 9 at the tourist office. Visitors who were unable to be present will find the office’s usual shop on site, where CDs, vinyls, books, reproductions and cards by the artist are offered.
Practical information
Exhibition in two locations in Paimpont: Brocéliande exhibition room, Porte des Secrets, until June 30, every day, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.;
at Paimpont Abbey until June 14, from Wednesday to Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Both exhibitions are freely accessible.
More information on www.destination-broceliande.com
Photo : Breizh-info.com
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