Joelle’s Art Salon Exposition No. 1: A New Artistic Gathering Comes to Nice

 

Nice’s contemporary art scene will gain a new gathering this month as Joelle’s Art Salon Exposition No. 1 brings together an international group of artists for an exhibition at NEO VogelART in the city’s Port district.

Organised by Joelle Meissner, the inaugural salon will take place from 16 to 29 October 2026 at NEO VogelART LAB, 6 bis rue Lascaris, Nice.

The exhibition is intended to be more than simply a display of individual works. NEO describes the first salon as an initiative organised by Meissner that brings together different forms of artistic expression while creating a living space around art, encouraging encounters, exchange and sharing.

Meissner herself has issued a warm invitation to the Riviera’s artistic community and the public:

“I warmly invite you to Joelle’s Art Salon Exposition No. 1.”

That personal invitation is very much in keeping with the idea of an art salon — a gathering built around artists, conversation and creative exchange as much as the works themselves.

Opening Night with Soprano Magdalena Motyl

The official opening will take place on Friday, 16 October from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Adding a live performance element to the evening will be Magdalena Motyl, soprano lyrique. The opening programme will also feature an address by Laurence Navalesi.

The combination of visual art and live performance is particularly appropriate for the salon concept. Rather than treating the gallery simply as a place to view paintings, the evening creates an opportunity for different artistic disciplines to intersect.

For visitors, the vernissage promises to be a distinctly social occasion, bringing artists, collectors, art lovers and the wider Nice cultural community together at the beginning of the exhibition.

An International Group of Artists

The salon brings together an impressive and diverse list of artists:

Joana Bruno, Tom Bühren, Robert Cadière, Kiddy Citny, Diane Detalle, Ayse Domeniconi, Harald Gottschling, Julia Heine-Saabel, Mireille Khazaka, André Laurenti, Linda Leeb, Lo Graf von Blickensdorf, MULIA, Jacques Savino, Marcela Svaton, Silva Usta, Tatiana Yastrebova and Eliel.

The breadth of names reflects the international character of NEO’s programme and of the contemporary art community developing around the venue.

Several of the participating artists have previously been associated with exhibitions at NEO, making this salon part of an ongoing network of artistic relationships rather than an isolated event.

For Meissner, however, this exhibition represents something slightly different: she is stepping into the role of organiser and host, bringing artists together under the banner of her own salon.

Joelle Meissner and the Riviera

Meissner is an established presence within the contemporary art community of the French Riviera.

Her practice is strongly associated with expressive colour, gesture and the human figure. Her work has been described in terms of emotional expression and an exploration of the relationship between colour, intuition and the inner world.

There is also a particularly interesting historical connection to Nice surrounding her work. Meissner has worked from a studio with a connection to Henri Matisse, adding another intriguing layer to her relationship with a city whose artistic history has attracted painters and creators for generations.

Her work has appeared in exhibitions in Monaco and Nice, including programmes involving other artists who will participate in the October salon.

In 2025, for example, Meissner participated in the Art Comité Monaco programme with Le Cri, a large acrylic work. She has also participated in exhibitions at NEO, including Art to the Rhythm of the Waves.

The October salon therefore represents both a continuation of Meissner’s own artistic presence on the Riviera and a new chapter in her involvement with the wider creative community.

NEO: a Fitting Home for a New Art Salon

The venue itself has an interesting story.

NEO – art & culture lab x VogelART is located at 6 bis rue Lascaris, in Nice’s increasingly vibrant Port district. The venue is close to Place Garibaldi, Place du Pin, the harbour and the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain.

NEO grew out of VogelART Edition’s earlier pop-up exhibitions in Nice. Those projects began in 2022 and were followed by further pop-ups in 2023, eventually leading to the creation of a permanent cultural space.

The venue occupies a former workshop used for producing advertising panels and neon signs. After extensive renovation, it became a more than 300-square-metre industrial-style cultural space. Even the name NEO pays homage to the building’s neon-sign history while signalling its new life as a centre for contemporary art and culture.

That industrial, flexible environment lends itself particularly well to a project such as Joelle’s Art Salon, where painting, performance, literary events and other forms of artistic expression can coexist.

More than an Exhibition

There is also a literary component to the programme.

On Wednesday, 28 October, the salon will host a presentation of a book by Larissa Kikol, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., adding another dimension to the programme.

This is perhaps where the idea behind Joelle’s Art Salon becomes most apparent. The project isn’t being positioned solely around selling or displaying artworks. It is creating a space where artists, music, literature, conversation and audiences can overlap.

That approach has a particular resonance on the French Riviera, where the history of artistic salons, studios and informal creative communities is almost as important as the museums and major institutions.

Visit Joelle’s Art Salon Exposition No. 1

The exhibition runs from 16 to 29 October 2026.

Joelle’s Art Salon Exposition No. 1
NEO art & culture lab x VogelART
6 bis rue Lascaris
06300 Nice

Opening reception:
Friday, 16 October 2026
6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Performance:
Magdalena Motyl, soprano lyrique

Exhibition:
16–29 October 2026
Open from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The salon offers a chance to see a substantial group of contemporary artists in one setting while also experiencing something that can sometimes be missing from the conventional gallery experience: the sense of an artistic community actually coming together.

And with Joelle Meissner taking the initiative to bring that community together, the first edition of the salon could mark the beginning of an interesting new addition to Nice’s already remarkably diverse cultural calendar.