Val David Exhibition Centre

Val David Exhibition Centre 2012 By: Ilania Abileah

2012 - Home

Articles, Attractions, Contact, Dance, Theater, On Screen, What's New, Where to Eat.

2011 - Articles, Attractions, Contact - Ilania, Dance, Theater, On Screen, What's New, Where to Eat

What's On: January 2011, February 2011, March 2011, April 2011, May 2011, June 2011, July 2011, August 2011, September 2011, October 2011, November 2011, December 2011

2010 - Articles, Dance, Exhibitions , Music , Attractions, Theatre, What's New, Where to Eat

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FEBRUARY 2012

Laurent Pilon & Yannick Deserre

The centre features an interesting combination of two artists. Laurent Pilon a sculptor who uses alchemy to create forms and texture from Polyester resin. Yannick Deserre is a young artist who combines drawing with texture from the animal world.

“Les pieds de la Communauté” by Laurent Pilon.

Photo: Les pieds de la Communauté, by Laurent Pilon

The artist became fascinated by resin about thirty years ago. He has been creating art with it for the past thirty years and has become a true alchemist who knows how to do marvels with this material. His works question both the origins and the end of humanity. He transforms polyester resin into a multitude of forms such as amber, glass, metal, fur, stone or ashes. Laurent Pilon studied architecture in France and in Montreal (1971-1974); did his bachelors (1982) and masters (1984) degrees in visual arts, and obtained his doctorate in Visual Arts (2011). He has been exhibiting his work in solo and group shows since 1981. He has been invited and as guest lecturer, participated in various juries, and did a residency at the Banff Center for the Arts (1993). His work was discussed in art revues such as Vie des Arts, Espace, and Parachute, as well as the daily newspapers Le Devoir and La Presse. Laurent Pilon lives in Saint-Donat and teaches at UQAM. His work is included in architectural integration projects such as his “Agathe Oeillée (1996) at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital in Montreal. He devotes his time to visual art explorations and teaching. His work was acquired by public collections such as Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, The Montreal Contemporary Art Museum, and others. There will be a Meet the Artist session with Laurent Pilon on Sat., Apr., 14, at 3 p.m.

Yannick Deserre

Photo: The Deer Mocks Me, by Yannick Deserre.

Yannick Deserre studied art at the Cegep of Trois-Rivières and obtained his bachelor degree in visual arts from the Laval University (1999). He has been exhibiting his work in Quebec since 1998. He received grants to do his research, and his works were acquired by a few major art collections. Yannick has lived amongst the Inuits in the North for a year, which probably inspired him to touch on the complexity of relationships between man and animal through a series of self portraits. Yannick has been recycling clothing items into his paintings, rendering his paintings into objects that are tactile. In his self-portraits series “Feeling corporel sur fond noir” (2010) he used items from his own wardrobe collaged with drawings of body parts hands, arms, legs, no faces, the clothing hide yet reveal a lot about a person. With his series “Second Nature” (2011) he started working with fur. In this exhibit there are drawing of faces and hands combined with fur and antlers, thus revealing the capacity of man to be animal-like which brings man and animal closer together. On Sat., Apr. 21, 3 p.m. the public can meet the artist Yannick Deserre.

Laurent Pilon’s Exhibition continues until May 20^th, and Yannick Deserre’s only until May 6^th. Centre d’exposition de Val David, 2495, rue de l’Église, Val-David. Opening hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wed., to Sun., Free admission. www.culture.val-david.qc.ca 819 322-7474.

JANUARY 2012

Temps Doux– Val David

An exhibition by Marie-Ève Martel and Hélène Brunet Neumann

"Territoires Mouvants 2" by Marie-Ève Martel

Marie-Ève Martel says that “Landscape indirectly relates to present human history… by the traces we leave behind…” She photographs the sites, then paints, draws, sculpts, and makes prints. Architectural drawings, model making, and the work of contemporary painters such as Peter Doig inspire her. Landscape is a “Narrative tool” for Marie-Éve, thus she chose a barn to describe the decline of agriculture. She observes the effects of global warming, with the resulting landslides, road collapses, and houses and trees that tilt, in other words, “Architecture that moves”.

The exhibit includes many paintings depicting buildings in light colours over a dark background which allows light to bring forth the structures astoundingly. There is an impressive wall-size, three-dimensional installation, which humbled almost everyone that walked into that space. It is constructed of paper pieces collaged over layers of insulation (Styrofoam) sheets, which are cut and patterned similar to geological maps, the houses seem to be made of match-sticks. Unlike the paintings which are all on a dark background, this installation is painted with blue skies and the bottom part is blue sheets that still have printed text identifying the construction material. This collection was inspired by the artist’s five-month stay in the Yukon, where she actually saw what the global warming is doing to the environment. Marie-Ève Martel lives in the Laurentians. She is a recipient of several awards as well as that of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation three times (2008-2009-2011). She did a residency at the Vermont Studio Center (2011); at the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (2009), Dawson City, and at the Atelier de l’Île workshop in Val David (2011).

Hélène Brunet-Neumann

Hélène Brunet-Neumann’s process is an integral part of her artistic expression. She plays with woven material she deconstructs with patience, care, delicacy and skill. She invites the viewer to delve into a world of threads and colour. It seems that the main thrust of Hélène’s artistic expression is a kind of rebellion by pulling threads out of canvas, which is primarily used as a base for painting. She undoes the woven material and uses the remains to paint on and glue to another canvas ground. She spreads and glues the threads of the canvas over a canvas support to create compositions resonating emotions, relationships, and perceptual senses. This way she creates images that talk about opening up to new stages of life and ideas, as well as creating landscapes with canvas threads in disciplined patterns, and uncontrolled free-spirited shapes. At the show opening, Manon Régimbal, the center’s director, said that music is an important part of Helene’s artwork. Helene’s husband Uwe Neumann brought African instruments one of them an Ektara with a single string and proceeded to play and sing amazing the audience with what can be done with one single string, then he played the Sansa making tender glockenspiel-like pleasant bell sounds. Hélène now lives in the Laurentians. She has spent six years in India where she chose to study visual arts and history of art at the Visva-Bharati University, where she also learnt various techniques of print-making. Upon returning to Quebec, she obtained a Masters degree in Art studies from the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM). She also became interested in digital art, thus she trained at Graff in Montreal and at the Atelier de l’Île in Val David.

Meet the artist sessions: Sat., Jan., 14, Hélène Brunet-Neumann 2 p.m. and Marie Ève Martel at 3 p.m. The exhibition continues until Feb., 19, 2012. Centre d’exposition de Val David, 2495, rue de l’Église, Val-David. Opening hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wed., to Sun., Free admission. www.culture.val-david.qc.ca 819 322-7474.