The sculptor Toby Govan shows his new work at the Casa de las Tejerinas together with the painter Serge Bouvier, who exhibits for the first time in Spain.

The inauguration of the art exhibition will take place on Thursday, August 31, at 8:30 p.m., with a recital by the pianist Ángel Moya and the poet Lorena Jiménez, and can be visited until August 31, with free access.

The Estepona City Council reports that the Casa de Las Tejerinas, located in the Plaza de las Flores, will host from July 31 to August 31 a joint exhibition of the Estepona sculptor Toby Govan and Serge Bouvier, French painter who exhibits his work for the first time in Spain.

The opening of the art exhibition will take place on Thursday July 31, at 20:30 pm, and will be enlivened by a recital by pianist Angel Moya and poet Lorena Jimenez Martin. The exhibition will remain open to the public every day of August, from Tuesday to Sunday, from 10:00 to 23:00 hours, with free access.

The new exhibition of sculptures of the artist from Estepona, of Scottish origin, Toby Govan, is entitled ‘The “Millefeuilles” of Life’, and will consist of twenty large works and as many smaller ones.

As in past exhibitions, the sculptor invites the public to “feel the stones” and see the strength and energy they treasure. The essence of this artist is that his work is made to be touched, whether it is a three-ton work or a 10 cm figure “that fits in the palm of your hand”.

Toby Govan will share space at Casa de Las Tejerinas with the French artist Serge Bouvier, who will exhibit his pictorial work for the first time in Spain. The exhibition ‘Spaces and Mondays’ will consist of 40 paintings; his approach seeks to share a vision of interior and exterior spaces and landscapes, especially playing with light and contrast, clarity and darkness. He suggests distancing himself from the representation of reality to make room for sensation and emotion.

Toby Govan (Edinburgh-1967). The son of artists, at the age of six he moved to Spain, where his parents emigrated, attracted by the “light” of Andalusia. He studied at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios Artísticos in Granada, and photography in Madrid, but his real teacher was his father, Douglas Govan, a sculptor, now deceased, who showed him his technique and the magic of “reading stone”, while his mother Ann, a watercolor painter, helped him to see the world as a “composition”.

For eight years he has been sponsored by Sam Benady of the Sammer Gallery in Puerto Banus and interior designer Sandra Bellington, allowing him to flourish as an artist.

There are Toby Govan sculptures in Spain, Germany, France, UK, USA and many other countries around the world. The largest piece, “In your arms”, weighing three and a half tons, is one of the monumental sculptures donated by the artist to the Estepona Town Hall, which have been displayed for years in different public spaces, outdoors, to the delight of passers-by. These works are carved from a single piece of limestone material, with stones mostly from the Ojén quarry and the Guadalmina riverbed. Sierra Bermeja stone, lapis lazuli, malachite, quartz from Afghanistan and pebbles stolen from the river are, among other minerals, the raw materials that he carves to turn them into “sensations of life as essential as, for example, an embrace”.

Serge Bouvier uses acrylic and oil painting techniques on wood, canvas, canvas on frame and paper.

“Reality matters less than impressions and feelings.”

Each artist chooses his own way of looking at paintings, according to his or her sensibility. He uses both figurative and abstract techniques to create an environment that one can discover for oneself. The idea is to let the gaze wander through the painting to guide the mind.

Serge Bouvier has participated for more than 30 years in numerous regional exhibitions in Ile de France and Savoie, alone or invited to art fairs or on the occasion of special events: Cimaises Ventadour (Paris), Cormeilles en Parisis (95), Pontchartrain (78), Ermont (95), Eaubonne (Galerie de Mézières), Pontoise (95), Salon des Arts de Taverny (95), Salon de Senlis. (60 – “Adaïs” painting association), Moûtiers (73), Bozel (73)…. He has also created several sets for plays performed in Paris, in the Val d’Oise and in Angers.