Cédo M. Artist Extraordinaire
Cédo M.
There are artists and there are artists and then there is the artist Cédo M. who kindly invited us to a Preview of his upcoming exhibition in his beguiling home.
The Tower.
Built around 1450, the romantic Tower immediately put me in mind of Sissinghurst Tower in England where Vita Sackville-West and her lover Virginia Woolf wrote their books together.
What a lovely surprise to be told that renowned avant-garde artist Simone Lacour lived in this Tower with her beloved.
That is not the only parallel. When Vita bought Sissinghurst Castle it was in ruins, uninhabitable, the garden taken over by brambles. The first thing she and her husband Harold did was to build bedrooms in the dilapidated out buildings before going on to create a unique garden. This mirrors what Cédo M. and his husband, Christian, a musician, have done with their home.
But here’s a strange thing.
Cédo M., who, until moving here, had never shown much interest in art, woke one morning with a pressing need to create something and hasn’t stopped since. It’s not uncommon for Christian to wake up to find a new sculpture has appeared on the lawn.
The phenomenon can only be attributed to spirit of place.
The more Cédo M. learns about Simone Lacour, the more he is compelled to create.
Simone died here age ninety in 2016 just eighteen months before he and Christian first visited their dream home. They moved in six months later.
To say Simone’s spirit inspires him is to put it mildly. She is his muse.
Cédo M., entirely self-taught*, produces works of art equal to any of those gracing the walls of upmarket galleries. A master of recycling he transforms scrap metal into Surrealist creations. A piece of driftwood ends up as Hannibal Lector.
Visit Cédo M. and Christian in their astonishing home. You won’t see its like again. If you are lucky you may hear the haunting sound of organ music emanating from Christian’s Music Room, catch a glimpse of Hiris, their old black Labrador and Felixa the sweet black and white cat who makes an appearance when she is hungry.
Locals say she was Simone’s cat. The French poet Baudelaire, convinced there is a spirit world, would have no doubt she is her familiar. He wrote of his own adored cat ‘It is the familiar spirit of the place; It judges, presides, inspires everything in its empire….’
* Also self-taught. Max Ernst, Henri Rousseau, Vincent van Gogh, Jasper Johns, Frida Kahlo, Anna Mary Moses (Grandma Moses), Ai Weiwei et al.
Post by Pamela (BA History of Art), Photography by Mark.
