“Indoor Garden and Its Secret Huts”

Somewhere between reconstructed nature and mental landscapes, this immersive exhibition invites you to step into your inner garden…

To mark its renovation, the Christiane Vallé Gallery is temporarily leaving the heart of Clermont-Ferrand to take up residence in a brand-new space in Gerzat. “While the work was underway, I envisioned an event that could never have taken place within the gallery’s walls. “Jardin intérieur” was born from a simple desire: to create a place where nature reclaims its rightful place, where the plant world, the wild, and the imagination mingle freely. A garden that everyone carries within themselves—one of childhood daydreams, of the treehouses we built to escape the world, of secret refuges where anything becomes possible. “To bring it to life, I chose this industrial building of about 500 m², which has no particular aesthetic appeal,” explains David Chabannes. Some fifteen artists—Chloé Kelly Miller, Corentin Spear, Fen X, Géraud Delteil, Greg Léon Guillemin, Jean Moiras, Mr. Garcin, Poes, Olivier Masmonteil, Skio…—have taken over this raw space to transform it into an immersive, scenographic experience.

Breaking up the space…
With its two levels—“on the ground floor, an open space of nearly 200 m²; upstairs, nine rooms ranging from 14 to 30 m² each”—the architecture creates a dual rhythm. “As soon as visitors step through the door of this cold, metallic building, they enter a garden: the floor is covered with grass; on the walls, only works related to nature, and everywhere, ivy, wisteria, plants… while tree trunks serve as pedestals for the sculptures.” The scenography does more than simply house the works; it places them within a living environment where the eye is immediately engaged and the senses are stimulated. “The experience engages the sense of smell with soft, plant-based scents, but also the sense of hearing, with sounds borrowed from nature.”
Upstairs, each room becomes an artist’s “secret cabin,” an autonomous mental space where the creative process finds its solitude. “Olivier Masmonteil has created a cabinet of curiosities there, inspired by his fishing trips. When he goes fishing, while settled in his cabin, he makes sketches, preparatory drawings, small watercolors… It is this intimate work that we discover here. Greg Léon Guillemin brings his cabin to life with plants by cutting out plants from foam board. A reconstructed landscape to wander through. Mr. Garcin presents a Japanese hut with tatami mats on the floor, works inspired by Japan, and a maple tree; Art by Uzume creates a collector’s hut where collectibles are arranged on crates…”. At the entrance to each space, a text that does not impose but guides, “to better understand the artist’s intention.”

Nature as a Guiding Force
Among these spaces, a windowless, entirely black room reveals a projection of the gallery owner’s inner world. “My cabin is both spiritual and intellectual.” A single painting catches the eye: a work by Seth, spotlighted, depicting a child sitting on books and gazing at the sky. “ To connect with this painting, the space consists of stacks of books secured together beneath a ceiling transformed into a starry sky. This child, with his head in the stars, represents what I try to preserve in my life; the books, symbols of culture, deliberately stacked haphazardly, reflect the constant chaos in which I live, caught between a mind teeming with ideas and a busy daily life .” While nature permeates the entire project, it is also rooted in a personal practice: “I take great pleasure in my garden, cultivating my tulips, planting rhododendrons. Just as I feel a special emotion when faced with certain works, notably Damien Hirst’s *Cherry Blossoms*. For me, reconnecting with nature is necessary and brings so much.” The exhibition thus explores the intimate and the imaginary through a series of contrasting spaces. Moving from one area to the next, visitors traverse indoor gardens with contrasting styles. A visual and sensory exploration to be experienced.

Not to be missed
: “Jardin intérieur”
May 17–July 25, 2026
Monday–Saturday, 2–7 p.m.
70 Chemin Donnavignat 63360 Gerzat
Galerie Christiane Vallé: galerievalle.com
Instagram: @galeriechristianevalle