Louis VENESTIN
2024 INTERVIEW WITH LOUIS VENESTIN, b. Kenscoff November 3, 1957
BY GAEL MONNIN
GM: Was there a sensitivity or an interest for art in your original environment?
LV: No one in my environment was an artist, it was in my blood since my childhood, I even had dreams about it.
GM: When did you start your artistic pursuits?
LV: I started painting after the earthquake.
GM: Why did you choose to become an artist?
LV: Because I love it and I have been dreaming about it since my childhood.
GM: Who were your masters and sources of inspiration during your artistic activity?
LV: No one guided me. The Monnin family are the people who helped me, some artists also advise me.
GM: What is art to you?
LV: Art is my passion
GM: What is your art about?
LV: I want to paint everything. I paint nature, I have the idea to do something else with it.
GM: What characterizes your work?
LV: My style of painting.
GM: How has your artistic approach evolved throughout your career?
LV: I started with a cut iron flower, I was making flowers now I paint birds. My first painting was a shadow image.
GM: How can art help in an unstable country like Haiti?
LV: Young people who waste their time can paint instead of engaging in delinquency, it will help.
GM:-And if you were asked to represent what Haiti means to you?
LV: Haiti represents my soul, it is where I was born. It is everything to me.
GM: What is your preferred medium?
LV: Acrylic because that's what I'm working with now
GM: What is your source of inspiration?
LV: My source of inspiration is God
GM: What is your relationship with your Haitian colleagues? And with foreign colleagues?
LV: I don't really have colleagues, I would say the people from my church, because that's all I do. My relationship with the colleagues from the Galerie Monnin is when they come on site, because I don't really go out. On the international market, the connection is made through the Galerie Monnin.
GM: What is your specific relationship with the Galerie Monnin? How has it evolved over the course of your career?
LV: It was in 1985, I worked with Roger Monnin as a house manager. I began to create paintings, and they started to represent me.
GM: What are your relationships with other artistic-cultural institutions in the country?
LV: I have no relationship with other institutions, everything is done through the Galerie Monnin
GM: What advice do you give to someone who wants to start their artistic activity?
LV: You have to work, you have to take your time, painting does not sell quickly. You have to be patient.
GM: How do you plan to evolve in your activity over the next ten years?
LV: If I am alive, I plan to make progress in what I do, be more efficient, do national, international exhibitions.
GM: Do you think your work could help in improving the conditions of Haiti?
LV: It's a team effort
GM: What is the state of Haitian art according to you?
LV: There isn't really any activity, the country is going through a crucial moment.
GM: Among the 5 senses, which is the most important to you?
LV: Sight
GM: What is your greatest fear?
LV: I am not afraid, maybe not succeeding in life. I depend on no one. For me, it's success. I can help others.
GM: Where do you feel most at ease?
LV: Kenscoff
GM: The last time you had a laugh
LV: I laugh often, sometimes I think about the past, I laugh.
GM: The last time you cried. For what reason?
LV: A month ago, I was hearing how people were dying in their neighborhood
GM: What has been the most difficult work of your career?
LV: I am currently working on a painting that has the shape of houses, I have been working on it since 2019.
GM: If you weren't an artist, what would your profession be?
LV: Farmer.