Great Encounter
Meeting painter Normand Boisvert and visiting his studio is an experience that undeniably changes a person given how striking, magical and colourful is his body of work and how warm, passionate and human is the artist. The workshop, vibrant with poetry that defies any limitation of freedom and joie de vivre, welcomes you as spectator to the atmospheric enchantment created by the images.
Indeed, Normand Boisvert’s work gives access to a succulent universe that reverberates a bygone era of joie de vivre. The highly imaginative landscape artist mixes reality and poetry to structure dazzling compositions that catch the eye at first glance. For 50 years, the artist has endeavoured, dedicated himself even, to depict the beauty of Québec’s nature and its human imprint.
Normand Boisvert
Text by Michel Bois
The artist is represented by: Galerie Douce Passion, Québec – Galerie d’art Iris, Baie-Saint-Paul – Stephen Lowe Gallery, Calgary – Dimension Plus, Montréal – Westmount Gallery, Toronto – State of the art Gallery, Toronto – Ryan fine art Gallery, Ontario
Meeting painter Normand Boisvert and visiting…
Artist Profile
The finest of paintings is always achieved via the solid and balanced organization of shapes and colours. Each of Nathalie Lapointe’s works rests on her knowledge of classic structural composition. Portraits. Shadows and lights. Images occupying one third of the canvas.
Mastering the theory of colours. Oil medium transparencies bonding with the grain of the canvas. Skillful work with painting knife. I could go on and on, so broad is her experience. Fascinated with atmospheres and tall buildings, here she is embarking on a new adventure, painting medieval castles precariously clinging to cliffs. Thank you Nathalie Lapointe!
Summer Shades, oil on canvas, 36 x 18 in
Text by Michel Bois
Galerie Québec Art, 40, Notre-Dame street, Québec, Qc 418-692-8200
The finest of paintings is always achieved…
Art in a Feminine Perspective
It has actually become daring to do something that is aesthetically pleasing. – Loretta Fasan
Loretta Fasan says that she paints because: “I need to bring certain images to life. I have a strong feeling that I want to create an image of females that have qualities I admire, and as much as possible I am trying to make them iconic.”
Although Fasan will paint landscapes and accept commissions, she also works in series. In particular she has done a number of female heads that are striking for their decorative embellishments. They would be at home on the set of Game of Thrones. “I paint female figures. Sometimes they are mysterious, humorous or serene. Sometimes I use intense and sometimes I use subtle colours, textures, gold leaf and patterns and costumes and I try to create an iconic aspect and then soften it by the facial expression.”
She likes to create and emphasize qualities that are timeless, serenity, hope and attaining grace or being at peace. She likes to represent kindness and gentleness and has no truck with fierceness: “I avoid fierceness, it’s easy to do ugly. It has actually become daring to do something that is aesthetically pleasing.”
Iris, oil and gold leaf on canvas, 30 x 30 in
Text by Noel Meyer
Loretta Fasan says that she paints because…
Contemporary Realism
Everything really takes off for René Lalonde with his 1999 participation in the famous New York Art Expo, one of the largest worldwide showcase for visual arts in North America. Although there is a long waiting list of hopeful participants, an unpredictable turn of events provides him with a stand where he exhibits some twenty of his works.
At the time, Lalonde essentially paints imaginary landscapes where are anchored warm and comforting small houses which earn him a loyal audience in Canada. As he has been exploring this theme for some time, he is tempted to do something different for this major art event and decides to embark on this adventure with a completely new proposition: colourful geometric drawings the cubist roots of which are freely and whimsically reinterpreted. He had previously entertained this idea but the public had shown little interest upon his first try at the Denison gallery in Old Montreal. Here was his opportunity to explore this longstanding inner desire to create fragmented abstract structures. Once on site, a major art editor notices his work and promises to convince the President of the Chalk & Vermillion Fine Arts Company and the Sales Manager for Martin Lawrence Galleries to come and see his artworks.
Happiness in a vase
Text by Lisanne Le Tellier
In Montréal, some of his works can be seen only at Cazeault Gallery on Sherbrooke Street West. The artist can also be reached by email at renelalonde@videotron.ca to obtain further information pertaining to his exceptional body of work.
Everything really takes off for René Lalonde…
On Exhibit
Multidisciplinary artist, tireless researcher and professional observer, France Malo has, for 45 years, created an inspired and highly diversified body of work. In a variety of mediums, her research reveals her thirst for learning and experimenting.
Long settled in the Mont Saint-Hilaire region with her family, France Malo regarded her artistic calling as a vocation. In primary school she distinguishes herself by winning contests and welcoming minor artistic challenges that will soon hearten her. At eight years old, she tries her hand at sculpting with blue clay she finds behind the family home. Thanks to a contest initiated by Radio-Canada, she travels to Europe to attend an arts summer camp where her curiosity towards varied mediums is heightened. Among other things she discovers cinema, which she will later explore. At fifteen, she exhibits her works for the first time in a café, and launches her graphic design and illustration firm having garnered small contracts such as album covers and comic strips. “The comic strips introduced me to movement,” recalls the artist. “I was mostly aiming for technical perfection at that time.”
Réseaux
Text by Isabelle Gauthier
Represented by :
Galerie d’Art France Malo, Beloeil
Galerie Nicole Taillon, Magog
UNO, Québec
Multidisciplinary artist, tireless researcher…
Forms, Volume and Space
A great creator
Invariably associated with L’Évangile en papier, Radio Canada’s mythical television show that brought him fame, Claude Lafortune has also contributed to set creations for other TV shows such as La Souris verte, La Ribouldingue and Sol et Gobelet. In his capacity as Artistic Director, he signed the sets for the iconic 1972 film IXE-13 and he has created sets for a number of theatrical and musical shows.
He mounted La Très belle histoire de Noël and visually orchestrated the 1981 St-Jean-Baptiste day parade. He worked in television for over 26 years, until the year 2000. Countless books were published based on his TV shows and body of works. Two exhibitions of his works, entitled Colle, papier, ciseaux and L’arche de Noé, are presently touring Québec. In April 2018, Québec’s Lieutenant Governor awarded him the Gold Medal, and he is currently actively participating in the development of a career profile.
Ara le merveilleux perroquet, paper and glue, 2017
Text by Marie-France Bégis
The L’arche de Noé exhibition is presented at the Musée des religions du monde à Nicolet until March 31, 2019.
The Colle, papier, ciseaux exhibition is presented at the La pulperie de Chicoutimi from February 2 to May 12, 2019.
Invariably associated with L’Évangile en papier…
Portrait
Pursuant to the editorial in this fall issue of your Magazin’Art, here is an innovative business model for the marketing of artworks by the artists themselves. An excellent initiative that avoids falling under the yoke of excessively greedy gallery owners… and independents.
Not a “cooperative gallery” with shares, neither a “community gallery”, but a collective of nine artists with premises on a busy street via a unique exhibition space and a profusion of planned travelling shows, events and workshops. A full agenda, indeed! The address: 113 Saint-Paul Street in Québec City. The welcome is warm and unpretentious. A friendly and knowledgeable welcome since it is extended by one of the gallery artists.
Céline Martel, Après tant d’efforts, mixed media, 36 x 60 in
Text by Michel Bois
Off galerie, 113, Saint-Paul street, Québec, 418 569-3316 Off.galerie.info@gmail.com
Pursuant to the editorial in this fall issue of your Magazin’Art…
The Galerie Q series of articles on the pioneers and builders of Canada continues with. portraits of four Prime Ministers, summarizing their paths, their challenges and their accomplishments. A profile of artist Masoud Habibyan, of Galerie Q’s Nation Builders Portrait Series, is included.
John G. Diefenbaker (1957-1963)
John G. Diefenbaker
John G. Diefenbaker was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada. During the eleven years he was Prime Minister, the country suffered an economic downturn. With the needs of the Canadian people in mind, he concentrated his efforts on the development of the Northern Territories, the revitalisation of the social welfare system, and the expansion of western agricultural reform. He improved trade with China and facilitated the sale of wheat. He granted the Indigenous Peoples of Canada the vote, was the first to appoint an Indigenous senator and the first to appoint a female cabinet minister. His termination of the Avro Arrow is still thought to be an unpopular decision. His most significant achievement was the Canadian Bill of Rights. It entrenches the individual freedoms of each Canadian.
Abonnez-vous au contenu de notre site internet pour lire ce texte. Subscribe to our Website content to read moreText by Valerie Kent
80% of the Nation Builders Collector Edition has already been sold. Pre-order your copy via presse Q or by calling 705-944-8888. To see more of the artists’ paintings or visit the gallery: Galerie Q, Cavan, ON.
The Galerie Q series of articles on the pioneers…
Great Encounter
“In a painting I look for truth, sentiment and solace.” – Marc Grandbois
From the first handshake I am seduced by the authenticity of the painter. In person, he exudes the aloofness and laughing manner of the greats. The attitude of those in the know, who paint to transmit their knowledge with a blend of sensitivity and sensuality they spread all over the canvas with confident gestures, unbridled, without any constraints.
The obvious force that emanates from the artist’s works attests of his passion for painting. Fulfilled, happy, passionate and confident, the man is imbued with beneficent humility.
For Marc Grandbois, as for all the great painters, painting is everything but reasoned, it is something felt, imperceptibly, a game of the mind, a combination of timid and bold gestures. But for Grandbois, the feeling is intense; should he find inspiration in a woodsy location, he must immediately satisfy his desire to express himself on canvas.
Souvenir d’Essex, MA , 20 x 16 in
Text by Michel Bois
Marc Grandbois is represented by galerie Douce Passion, 42A, Notre-Dame Street, Québec Qc. 418 648-9292
His works can also be found in Alberta at the Stephen Lowe Gallery, Calgary. His works are also part of public and private collections in Canada and abroad.
From the first handshake I am seduced by the authenticity of the painter…
On Exhibit
“If everyone laid a flower on the path of life, it would certainly embellish the human experience.” – Michel Bois
Viewing Lyse Marsan’s works is an experience that permeates not only one’s memory but one’s whole being as she dispenses so much energy via the voluptuousness of her colours and the sensuality and subtlety of her narrative.
The artist is passionate, sharply and intensely so. She is constantly exploring new possibilities that painting offers; this is how, after a career that spans more than forty years, she has created an extensive personal, sustained and re-energizing pictorial body of work. To that end, she first studied with teachers in private workshops then in recognized schools in many European countries. Which won her a gold medal awarded by France in 2000 for the quality of her creation and her commitment to the promotion of visual arts. Needless to say, her perseverance, her abilities and her knowledge have widely opened doors for her, here in this country, with provincial and national agencies, and internationally.
Au parfum d’un fruit de la passion, 24 x 24 in
Text by Michel Bois
Lyse Marsan is represented by Galerie Douce-Passion, 42A, Notre-Dame Street, Québec. 418-684-9292
Viewing Lyse Marsan’s works is an experience…
Contemporary Realism
When everything seems short-lived and quickly forgotten, sometimes persists an inner desire for continuance. Once human beings become dust, very few traces of their passage are left behind, aside from their direct descendants. Some traces of their lifetime achievements may remain, provided they are durable enough to avoid deterioration that would also lead to their disappearance.
For a creator like René Lemay, outbursts of pigments spread out on canvases attest of his own small moments of happiness captured on the fly, each subject deriving from a sudden burst of joy. In rediscovering his works, his two sons are momentarily reliving all the various stages of the painter’s artistic path. They are the instigators of an extensive research aimed at gathering up all of the artworks produced by their father throughout his artistic career. First and foremost a gesture of love to revive memories of and feel closer to the deceased, but also as a means of learning more about him and further promote his talent, as a posthumous tribute in constant evolution.
The Golden Fish – 33 x 25 in, 2007
Text by Lisanne Le Tellier
The whole of the collection can be found at renelemay.ca and Galerie Michel-Ange still has some of the works on display.
When everything seems short-lived and quickly forgotten…
Painting a Country
Within every artistic discipline, there are always some creators who draw unanimous consensus among their peers whenever the quality of their production is being discussed. Alain Massicotte is among these select few.
Digging from their well of resources, following their paths of wonderment, striding into unique forests, these exceptional beings permeate each of their works with effluences of captivating spices. Their talent and the time and effort they invest are the ingredients of their perfect recipe.
Alain is an illustrator by trade, one of the pioneers of the Association of Illustrators of Quebec. He first studied pure sciences at Cégep Bois-de-Boulogne before turning to the field of architecture at Université de Montréal. After having spent two years in that department, he again reorients his professional path and attends graphic communications classes at Laval University. This is where he realizes that a career as an illustrator is a perfect fit for him.
Untitled, oil on canvas, 8 x 12 in
Text by Robert Lafontaine
Galerie Tommy Zen 1452 Sherbrooke St. West in Montréal
Within every artistic discipline, there are always some creators…