Kay Quattrocchi

About

Interview with artist and art writer Mathias Durand-Reynaldo :

“Kay Quattrocchi is a very surprising artist, not to say… confusing! Her life is so intense that if a great writer ever decided to make a feature film, he wouldn’t know where to start. The easiest way is to tell the story randomly. She won’t mind, since Kay’s conceptions of space and time are not necessarily in phase with those of her contemporaries.

Despite an Anglo-Saxon first name, an Italian surname and a Greek mother, Kay is French and spent her childhood in Indochina. That said, whatever the nationality, Kay is universal! As a teenager, she was repatriated to France while the Vietnam War was raging.
Her experience of war over the years gave her a keen sense of the essential. In France, she discovered at the same time, thanks to her television set and the Apollo experiment, that technology is not only at the service of war, but also of “human genius”. This blend of materials, knowledge and intelligence has given rise to a technology not far removed from military genius, but in the service of peace, Kay understands. While she may not become an astronaut, she definitely knows she has the soul of a scientist! With her passion for astrophysics and philosophy, and her search for the link with consciousness, she began a lifelong study of the subject.

Logically, one might think that her destiny was set. And yet, just a few years later, we find her hosting radio, television and cinema in Tahiti! This is without doubt the most extraordinary aspect of Kay Quattrocchi’s life. Chance, synchronicity, destiny, it’s all intertwined. To the point of believing she’s living parallel lives. And that’s not all! We won’t go into her adolescence in Martinique, Morocco and Ceylon. Nor will we talk about her Catholic and secular schools, her daily visits to the Buddhist temple with her Indochinese nanny, or her Orthodox upbringing on her mother’s side. It’s impossible to say it all! Kay is everywhere and nowhere at the same time, a citizen of here and there, with no country and no religion. She’s a timeless, elusive woman. Yet she seems to carry a message. The answer lies in her art. To understand the artistic complexity of her character, it has to be said that she can paint anything! Her mastery and technical level are such that she can embrace any style. That said, it’s important to note that, whatever time or manner Kay uses at any given moment, her pictorial journey is always directed towards the same quest: the link between the universe and us. Wherever she goes, art accompanies and guides her on her journeys. She crosses the Atlantic (from St Martin to Greece) and the Mediterranean on the mythical Ketch “Kriter” (and yet she’s afraid of the water!) She has also visited Paraguay and crossed Martinique and the Congo again. She has escaped death 3 times, and seen it up close: her “altered states of consciousness” and her near-death experiences: Another way to travel… All these experiences have gradually enlightened her, as her paintings testify. In French Polynesia, in search of spirituality, she developed a particular interest in the “Marae”, Polynesian sanctuaries, and attended certain rituals to understand “Mana”. She studied Tahitian traditions, tattoos and ornaments. She took notes and produced thousands of drawings and paintings. One of them is even featured on a stamp in a worldwide philatelic collection! Not feeling like a custodian of this important heritage, she bequeathed all her work and moved to the West Indies. In Martinique, she composed a hymn for 40 choristers and designed the Marianne of the overseas territories acquired by the President of the French Republic. She was even summoned to the Elysée Palace! In 1992, she finally discovered Saint-Barth and settled there for good. Kay became an internationally recognized painter and began to sell all over the world: Australia, United States, Germany, etc. Her lifestyle changed. She also opened one of the island’s first galleries: “L’Espace 21” in Gustavia’s Carré d’Or. A pioneer, she contacted the world’s leading auction houses and brought in works by Armand, Picasso, Leonor Fini and César, whom she met personally. She organized the first auction on the island! All her adventures and encounters influenced and modified her way of painting. She successively went through several periods: naive, pointillist, realist, figurative-abstraction, before finally finding her own style: “Between Art and Science”. She immersed herself in her work, sold her gallery and began an ambitious creative process. Many other painters might have lost their way back then, in an obtuse or inclined mystical spirit. Not Kay! The information presented itself and devoured her. She seeks to understand. Her answer was Cartesian! After an extraordinary encounter with astrophysicist Panayotis Charitos (CERN), she threw herself into the study of the infinitely large and the infinitely small. In search of the link between us and the universe, through astrophysical information: Bosons, neutrinos, particles, black holes, gravitational waves, Planck’s wall, quantum mechanics, double causality, space and time, everything! She even met the team at CERN, the gigantic Franco-Swiss particle gas pedal. Her ultimate goal: to transcribe the movement of elementary particles between inspiration and mathematics through her artistic creations, and to share the link that exists between Consciousness and the Universe in order to discover who we really are. She has filed an international patent for her latest creation: “Walls of Light”, which define the multi-dimensions of Being within us.
This “Wall of Light” was inaugurated on February 17, 2017 in front of the courtyard of the Collectivité de Saint-Barth’.
The Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy organized its “Retrospective” between “Art and Science” at the Musée de Saint-Barthélemy from February 17 to March 17, 2019 with a French physicist Mr. Philippe Guillemant.

Kay Quattrocchi is a painting UFO, an extraterrestrial. And if you want to have a good time, be sure to take a look at her paintings, or better still! Visit his studio. But be warned, her time scale is not the same as yours…”

Biography

2022

She becomes the first St. Barth artist to enter the NFT space with KQuasars, a collection of works based on black holes and quasars, representing her lifelong fascination with the universe.

2021

She undertakes a trip to Polynesia on behalf of the president of St Barthélemy, to offer a trophy representing the sails to the president of French Polynesia.

2020

Doctor Bruce Lipton dedicates a “Spotlight” to her, and on her research on the Universe and Consciousness.

2019

Between Art and Science : A retrospective of her entire career is presented in the Museum of St. Barthelemy. Invited physicist Philippe Guillemant and Quattrocchi organize a kind of game that allows participants to understand the tools of consciousness through synchronicities.

2017

She registers the patent for “The Wall of Light”. A sculpture concept that combines multi dimensionality, painting and light and can also be used as room dividers or to illuminate pools or exterior spaces.

Quattrocchi realizes and donates a “Wall of Light” sculpture on behalf of the President of St Barthélemy to his Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco. It get’s installed in front of the City Hall of Gustavia.

2016

Auction Sale in Paris, 130 x 160 cm, adjugée : 58.000 euros

2015

She participates in charitable actions for the WWF, in favor of Tigers. This is a collaboration with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Sir Stelios Haji Ioannou Philantropic Foundation.

2015, Charity auction for the Stelios Philantropic Fondation, Prince Albert II Foundation, and WWF
SAS Prince Albert II and me

2014

Caritative Exhibition for the Heart Fund at the Hotel Carl Gustav in St Barth.

2013

Her first exhibition featuring astrophysics paintings called “Neutrinos & Bosons” is shown at the Christopher Hotel in Saint Barthélemy.

2003

Quattrocchi paints the poster for the music festival of St. Barthelemy using her pointillism technique. The original painting sells at auction for the benefit of the Festival.

Festival of music of St Barthélemy

2000

She sells her gallery and paints for stars and top models such as Izabelle Scorupco and Jeff Goldblum among others.

1994

She inaugurated her gallery ‘Espace 21’ and worked with ‘Maitre Pierre Cornette de Saint-Cyr’ on an exhibition of Modigliani, Picasso, Arman, Cesar, Leonor Fini, Chemiakin, Raoul Dufy, Marie Laurencin, and herself. She met at the time a very good friend of Madame Hillary Roddham Clinton and carried out a special commissioned order for a portrait of Madame Clinton. From this moment on, she painted many portraits using the pointillism technique.

Portrait of Hillary Roddham Clinton, Oil on Canvas, 1994

1993

She arrived in Saint Barthelemy, French West Indies.

1991

Autumn Salon in Paris. Kay Quattrocchi meets with Michael Turovsky who tought her the technique of figure-abstraction. This, she says, was a great experience.

Plaza San Marco, Salon d'Automne

1990

The “Creole Marine” was acquired by the Museum of Martinique.

Creole Marine, Museum of Martinique, 1990

1989

For the bicentenary of the revolution, Kay Quattrocchi creates the “Marianne of the DOM TOM,” acquired by the president of Martinique’s local council who offered lithographies to Mr François Mitterrand and Mr Jacques Chirac. The “Marianne of the DOM TOM” was presented to the French television along with a song with 40 voices created by Kay Quattrocchi and harmonized by Mr Laouchez.

1988

The Polynesian government and the experts in the art of stamps from the French Post Offices chose one of her works to be presented in the international philatelic collection: the “Stone Carrier” exhibited at Paris’ Porte de Versailles.

Le Porteur De Pierre, 1988, Oil On Canvas Tahiti Period by Kay Quattrocchi
Le Porteur de Pierre, 1988
La Depeche, Page 12, 1988

1983 - 1988

Kay Quattrocchi traveled and showed her work in many countries and exhibitions such as Paraguay, Isla de Pasqua, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Tahiti. For two years she was the creator and presenter of a program for the French TV, during which time she also performed in two movies. She completed many drawings that depicted Polynesian traditions such as tattoos, dance, etc., and met with Paul Emile Victor who was her hero as a young girl and with whom she made exhibitions. She also met with Joel Blanchard who was a student of Dali and became her tutor.

1979 - 1983

She lives in Brazzaville, Congo 

1978

Kay sails on the legendary “Kriter”with Captain Pierre Daboussy and his best friend Alain Gliksmann. They travel to St Martin, Açores, Gibraltar, Ibiza, Sicile, Tunisie, Grece, Rhodos with Tahiti as the final destination.

1977

She lives in Brazzaville, Congo 

1974 - 1977

She lives in Morocco

1972 - 1973

She lives in Brazzaville, Congo 

1970 - 1971

She lives in Ceylon, Sri Lanka

1968 - 1969

She lives in Martinique

1957 - 1968

She grew up in Saigon during the Vietnam war. Her father was an engineer and her mother an art teacher. She spent her first years of schooling at the Regina Mundi School, “Les Oiseaux” in Saigon.

1957

Kay Quattrocchi was born in Africa and moved to Vietnam with her family when she was 9 months old.

Solo Exhibitions

1995

L’Espace 21 Gallery (Saint-Barthelemy)

1994

“Galerie des Arts” (Saint-Barthelemy) 

1993

Maho beach (Saint-Martin)

1992

Lafitte trade show la Batelière (Martinique)

1991

Exhibition of “La Marianne” at the Palace of Congress Paris, 73rd congress of the mayors of France presided by Mr. Jacques Chirac

Botanical Gardens of Montréal

1989

Exhibition of “La Marianne” Impératrice Hotel (Martinique) broadcasted on RFO Martinique

1987

Rétrospective Sofitel Tiare Mooréa (Tahiti)

1986

“Galerie des Formes” Monterey (USA)

1985

Yamanaka Gallery (Japan)

1984

Gallery 21 Sydney (Australia)

1982

Cataratas de Iguaçu (Brazil)

1979

Hinatea Gallery (Tahiti)

Group Exhibitions

1989

Centre of the Arts (Guadeloupe) presentation of La Marianne

1988

Exhibition of the stamp “Le Porteur de Pierre” Porte de Versailles (Paris)

1986

Vaimantic gallery with Paul Emile Victor

1984

OTAC 150 painters for the Festival of Oceania

1983

Fare Manihini with Johel Blanchard (Tahiti)

Museums

  • Heritage museum Tahiti for the stamp “Le Porteur de Pierre”
  • Heritage museum of the Antilles (Creole Marine)
  • Local Council of Martinique “La Marianne des DOM TOM”