Marcelino Hooi
Marcelino Hooi is a Paris based impressionist painter. He uses light and shadows as a building blocks for constructing space and form in his paintings. Paintings that emphasize moments of stillness and solitude in everyday city life
Marcelino's practices are rooted in urban observation. Watching someone smoke a cigarette, walking into the metro station, or crossing the street. Scenes that no one would really notice, but at the same time scenes that everyone would notice missing would they cease to exist. Marcelino’s works describe the quiet that people often miss in big cities like Paris. Drawing parallels with the sublime as we know from romanticism. As if his works are telling the viewer that the quiet is still there, for those who notice.
A key work presented within this context is Smoking in front of Dirty Dick (2026), one of his most recent paintings. The painting depicts three characters. Two of them smoking in front of a bar, closed during the daytime. A third one crossing the street. The distance between the viewer and the three characters makes the viewer feel like they are watching the three characters from afar, almost like a voyeur. The composition suggests that these three people, being at the center of the painting, are also the subject of the painting. But is that really true?
The light suggests otherwise. The way the light emphasizes the surroundings, rather than the characters, reveals that the real subject is the place these three characters find themselves. And the characters themselves? They are secondary. The scene is set at eye height for the viewer, making the whole ordeal feel near, inviting, enveloping the viewer into the scene. This puts the viewer in an ambiguous position. Where at first they might have felt like a watcher, they might now start to feel like a participant. Like they are right there, across the street, watching the three characters live their life. And that at any moment, the characters could spot the viewer. This realisation makes the relationship between the viewer and the characters suddenly unsettling, but also intriguing.
The painting Smoking in front of Dirty Dick (2026) and others from the same collection will be on display during Les gars de Frochot. From the 14th of February until the 21st of February 2026 at Hotel Le Pigalle.
Luca Spolidoro
Luca Spolidoro is a self taught contemporary painter. Born in Johannesburg, Luca has spent his formative years in South Africa. His visual journey took off in his teenage years. Initially, just with tagging walls around the city. His motifs gradually became more intricate. They evolved from tags, to figures, compositions of figures, full murals, and eventually, to oil paintings.
Luca describes his works as introspective, a visual journal of his experience of life and his surroundings. His process can be described as taking in his surroundings, and reflecting them outwards through his art.
In 2023 Luca moved to Paris, aligning himself further with his French roots. Back in Johannesburg, the urban landscape was his canvas. In Paris, this idea naturally persisted, but the form changed. Instead of walls and bridges, Luca started collecting scrap materials from the streets of Paris. Now, his frames are made from materials found in the streets of Pigalle. Wood panels, stakes, metal, anything the city gives him. His linen comes from a local shop run by a lovely elderly lady. The city of Paris, specifically the neighborhood Pigalle, is deeply embedded in Luca his works.
Having grown up in South Africa his work has been heavily inspired by other contemporary African artists. He mentions Nelson Makamo and Terence Ntsako as great sources of influence. These influences become apparent through Luca’s paintings, which often portray faces close to the viewer, and bold colors. The clear reference to artists from his home continent, along with Luca’s use of the urban environment as a source of materials, further consolidate the idea that his works are a culmination of his environment, reflected through the artist.
As much as we refer to painters with no formal training as self-taught, Luca his work exudes an energy transcending the concept of self-taught. The term self-taught separates the artist and their abilities into two different entities, where over time, the first acquired the latter. Luca’s works do not feel like the product of a skill that he acquired. The works feel like a natural part of Luca himself. And it would be more appropriate to refer to his abilities as something that has always been an integral part of him. Something that, over time, has been developed rather than acquired. It is an idea that seems far and theoretical in writing, but makes sense when one stands in front of Spolidoro’s work. Viewing his work in real life feels like being in an honest conversation with the artist. Where the artist tells all. It feels like having a heart to heart with a friend that you have known since youth.
Luca Spolidoro his paintings will be on display during Les gars de Frochot. From the 14th of February until the 21st of February 2026 at Hotel Le Pigalle.
Eoghan Gilmore
Eoghan Gilmore (b. 1997) is a photographer originally from Derry, Ireland. He holds a Master's degree in Film Studies from Paris, following a Bachelor's in Marketing & Communication from Belfast. Based in Paris, Eoghan has developed a photographic practice rooted in storytelling, atmosphere, and analogue experimentation. His work draws inspiration from a range of visual influences, notably the bold use of colour and contrast in the work of Belgian photographer Harry Gruyaert, and the stylistic coherence and cinematic quality seen in the fashion campaigns of James Harvey Kelly. Music, memory, and the language of film also play a central role in shaping his visual approach.
Having worked on campaigns for De Bonne Facture, runway shows for Miu Miu , but also capturing the raw energy of touring with The Murder Capital, Eoghan is not limited by a single genre. He describes his own visual language as being at the intersection of commercial and documentary. His personal practice continues to evolve towards more experimental uses of film — both still and moving image — including alternative development processes and darkroom printing.
For this exhibition Eoghan developed new work, not influenced by commercial interests, but uncontaminated art, driven by the artist and his inspirations.
Eoghan's new work will be on display during Les gars de Frochot. From the 14th of February until the 21st of February 2026 at Hotel Le Pigalle.