Last week, we had a great time celebrating our Visual Relay collection with artist Lucas Beaufort at the Naud Gallery in Los Angeles — featuring Lucas’ newest work as well as a live painting session throughout the evening.

Creating connection. The night kicked off with old and new friends milling about, absorbing themselves in Lucas’ abstract art. Connecting with one another over the profound ideas his paintings evoke — the most important concept being to create human connection. A blind art experience was another aspect of the night — featuring envelopes with clues like “cat & cat” on the outside which described the art that could be purchased and discovered inside. All the while, a short documentary played throughout the evening, allowing us to also be transported to his home in France.

The most enthralling aspect of the night was Lucas’ live painting session. We went a different route than the typical “artist paints while you mingle” and included the audience by having raffle tickets available for purchase at the beginning of the night — the winners of the raffle each got to take home one of the forty canvases that made up the whole of Lucas’ finished painting. The idea was that forty people are now forever connected to one another through that art. After he completed his work, Lucas got up on the step stool and called out every winner, individually hugging each person and whispering to them a bit about the specific piece of the puzzle they won. Talk about practicing what you preach.

“I paint to build a bridge between myself and somebody. I love people. I paint for people.” The effort Lucas puts into creating connection with others is evident, not only in the work that he puts out, but in the way he carries himself at his shows and in his daily life.

A rare soul, as someone from the crowd described him. A rare soul, indeed.

Photos by Morgan Rindengan & Sara Freitag

Thank you to Monster Children for co-hosting with us, Naud Gallery for the use of your space, and to Morgan Rindengan.