Anikó Pápista, who comes from Budapest in Hungary, opened her Nice gallery, Gravis ART Galerie, a few months ago. She has been exhibiting the work of accomplished and established Hungarian artists.

Anikó then decided it would be great to invite local artists for a one off exposition which she titled ‘Diversity’. The local Nice art scene is very diverse and made up of many artists from many countries as the area has lured artists for many years. ‘Diversity’ brought together 14 artists from 11 countries! An eclectic collection of pieces in so many differing styles.

Sculptures ranged from the metal work of local legend Jarry to Marita Occelli’s glass sculptures and of course Michel Anthony showed one of his elegant bronzes, plus the fascinating work of Barna Gasci. There was colourful textile art from Holly La Rosa which was her first showing in Nice. Painting/sculpture on wood by Patrick Lambert. Mixed media & light art from Sibilla Bjarnason with her painting with LEDs and Alexandra Ovendahl who incorporates neon into her work. A large array of painting styles from Wanda Swajda, Mark Ashton, Chieko Imamura, Omar Logang, Jean-Francois Gaulthier & Mike Colquhoun.

There were two amazing things about this exhibition. One was that Anikó found this wide arts community so soon after being here. Secondly, the way the artists themselves gelled which was great as most did not know each other until ‘Diversity’ happened. A truly remarkable event that will hopefully be staged again. In fact Anikó has been talking about it being a regular fixture on her calendar for the gallery. Let’s hope so!

So if you are in Nice you will find a detour to rue Droite in the Old Town is a pleasurable experience with all its galleries. Remember to stop by number 17 and enjoy the Gravis ART galerie. You will receive a very warm welcome and be surrounded with some wonderful artworks in a cool space.