Pierre’s latest show opened
at Galerie René Blouin on November 10th and runs until December 22nd. The paintings are almost abstract in
appearance and represent fragments of interiors of art galleries in New York
City. Just one month prior to this on
October 4th, his retrospective exhibition including sixty-five major
artworks opened at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art. This solo show encompasses his works from the
mid-1990s and includes new paintings created especially for this prestigious
museum. In addition to his tableaux, the
show also features Pierre’s four picture disc LP box set entitled
“4 Corners”, produced by the Montreal music label Oral Records in 2012. The
four colored vinyl discs were created using photographs of an art gallery
bathing in the light projected from works by the American minimalist artist Dan
Flavin (famous for creating sculptural
objects and installations from commercially available fluorescent light
fixtures).
The sound part is four segments of an interpretation of “Music on a Long Thin
Wire”, a piece created in 1977 by Alvin Lucier. The MAC show runs to January 26th,
2012, and will go on the road with its first stop being at the Dalhousie Art
Gallery in Halifax, Nova Scotia from March 15th
to May 5th, 2013.
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| Exhibition View 2012 Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay |
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| Exhibition View 2012 Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay |
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| Exhibition View 2012 Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay |
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| "Vestibule III", (2012), oil on linen, 83.8 cm x 63.5 cm/33 x 25 inches Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay
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René Blouin show: http://www.galeriereneblouin.com/History/Shows/2012/12_Dorion-7/1.html
MAC Interview with Pierre Dorion (click on Video 1): http://www.macm.org/expositions/pierre-dorion/
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| Invitation to the musée d'art contemporain exhibition |
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| "Closer", (2002), oil on linen, 122 cm x 183 cm Photo: John Berens |
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| "Intérieur", (2008), oil on linen, 182.9 cm x 137.2 cm Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay
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VaVa:
Wow, two back to back shows in two months! The MAC in October and René Blouin in
November. Congratulations to you! Does it make it all worthwhile now that you’ve
achieved museum status with your work?
Pierre: This is every
artist’s dream isn’t it, to have a retrospective in a major museum? Also, that the show is in my hometown makes
it even more special. To have the
opportunity to see all these works grouped together and being able to take a
moment to look at what I’ve done over the last 18 years is a rare opportunity.
VaVa: In your interview, you mention the curator of
the MAC was inspired by your installation “Chambres Avec Vues” to do this show. Can you explain a
little further?
Pierre: The curator of the
exhibition, Mark Lanctôt, was interested in the relationships that my paintings
have with the exhibition space, both in terms of subject matter and of
installation. “Chambres avec Vues”
served as a strong example of this, where both approaches were acutely explored. Mark curated the show with this installation
as a starting point. We re-created it in
the museum with the construction of the three rooms of the apartment where I
had originally installed my paintings in 1999 so that one gets that impression
of domestic scale introduced into the museum.
The re-creation, however, is minus windows or views. Instead there are blank walls where there
used to be windows, a reminder that you are in the museum while in an intimate
setting. There is also a short video
visit of the original installation at the entrance of the show giving visitors
a sense of what that experience actually felt like.
VaVa: How long did it take you to prepare for the
MAC show?
Pierre: Mark started working on the selection of
works for the exhibition about two years ago.
Once that was done, I started working on the pieces which are in the
last room, about one year ago.
Vava: Were you working on the René Blouin show at
the same time?
Pierre: Last year, René proposed I do an exhibition
that would open at the same time as the MAC show. At first I was a bit terrified, wondering how
would I be able to work on a solo show in René’s new space, in which I had
never shown, on top of working on the new pieces for the MAC. But René was very cool about it, suggesting
for example, that we could show a selection of older works which would act as a
counterpoint to the museum show, or even to show one very specific tiny
painting in the gallery. In the end, I
created fourteen new paintings for that show!
The adrenaline was flowing!!
VaVa: How many paintings did
you create for the MAC show and how many are from your 90’s collection?
Pierre: I created 2 polyptychs for the MAC show; one has
five panels, the other has seven. Most of the older paintings
in the show are borrowed from different collections, but there are a couple of
these works that belong to me.
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| "Gate (The Piers)", (2012), oil on linen, 7 elements of 152.5 cm x 114.5 cm Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay |
Vava: Can you
explain the polyptych method and how you’ve developed it for your art?
Pierre: I paint
from photographs taken while travelling.
A first step in selecting which images I’m going to work from consists
of arranging large groups of photos on one wall of the studio. I like to play with these images, organizing
new sequences from time to time. Last
year I was looking at one sequence thinking it would be interesting to see it
on a large scale and transformed into a painting. I ended up making these two polyptychs which
are ideal pieces for a large museum room. They were also made with Mark’s
selection and floor planning in mind. In fact, the whole exhibition was conceived
as a large installation echoing Mark’s
concept of the show.
Vava: I love the
segment in your video where you are guiding the museum team through the
accrochage! It’s very rare the public is
given a glimpse of this meticulous type of work and it doesn’t look easy. After seeing this, one can appreciate how
critical this work is to a show.
Pierre: It’s a
lot of work, but it’s also party time!
Vava: Were you
pleased with the opening night?
Pierre: Yes, it
was quite the party! A lot of people
from various stages of my life were there and it was great fun! There was Andy Williams, a great Montreal DJ,
spinning tunes, and nice wines. If I had been younger, I probably would have
gone out to a club and continue on very late but I had enough by 11:30 after
the private reception was over!
VaVa: Let’s go
back to when it all started for you. Who are your agents and how long have you been
working with them?
Pierre: I’ve
been with Galerie René Blouin in Montreal and with Jack Shainman Gallery in New
York since 1986. I’ve also been working with Diaz Contemporary in Toronto since
2010.
Jack
Shainman Gallery: http://www.jackshainman.com/
Diaz
Contemporary: http://www.diazcontemporary.ca/
VaVa: How has René
been instrumental in promoting your career?
Pierre: René and
I go back to 1983 when he saw my very first show which was a collaboration with
Claude Simard and was set in a rundown Montreal apartment on Clark Street. Do
you remember that exhibition? You came to the opening!
VaVa: I certainly
do! That show had a very underground
feel which reflected the art/music scene at that time but was very bright and
dark at the same time.
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| "Peintures/Paintings", (October 15-30, 1983), 3889 Clark Street, Montreal Photo: Pierre Dorion |
Pierre: Claude
and I painted together on every surface of the flat, kind of in a graffiti/neo-expressionist
style. Later that week, René and Betty Goodwin came to see the exhibition and as a
result he later visited my studio
and began to follow my exhibitions. In
1985, he invited me to participate in “Aurora Borealis”, a large survey of installation
art in Canada which he was co-curating with Normand Thériault. This was a big
deal for me then as I was the youngest artist among a group of very famous and
established Canadian artists. At that
time, René was also thinking of opening a gallery and asked me if I would be
interested in working with him. Of
course I said “Yes!” to this wonderful opportunity and we have been working
together ever since. Galerie René Blouin
is one of the best and most respected galleries in the country, so yes, he
played a very important part in my career.
We’re like family!
VaVa: What were
you major visual art influences in your early years and which mediums did you
begin working with at that time?
Pierre: I was always fascinated by painting
but I don’t consider myself a “born” painter.
My path has been like a slow apprenticeship of painting. Like a moth attracted to the flame, I
felt I had to avoid so many traps. I still feel that painting today is not easy
but I like the idea of doing something that’s so old fashioned. There are many
influences. Early on, I devoured art
history books and I was completely enthralled by what I discovered. One of the painters that stood out for me was
Caspar David Friedrich. In those early years, the work I was doing was
analytical, demonstrating ideas about painting and representation. I was deconstructing painting, trying to see
how it worked, painting on paper and using collage. I was also doing photography, but from a painter’s
point of view. I never wanted to become
a full-time photographer but eventually ended up using my photographs as source
material for my paintings.
VaVa: Did you
incorporate Roman Catholic church icons into your earlier works? I remember a
very long time ago you took a trip to
Rome to look at frescoes, amongst other things.
Pierre: The
piece I made for the Aurora Borealis installation borrowed a lot of images from
religious Catholic books. There was even a “prie-dieu” (prayer bench), which is
a kneeling bench designed to be
used by a person at prayer and which is fitted with a raised shelf on which the
elbows or a book may be rested. For the
installation, I placed an old bible on it.
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| "Mes confessions", (1985), Installation view Photo: Louis Lussier |
That same year I did a painting from the image of a historical group portrait set in a church with the Virgin Mary in the center, but where I replaced the heads of the figures wth crucifixes.
The church was the very first place I saw paintings
as a child and this left a strong impression on me. Catholicism has an important presence in the
earlier chapters of the history of painting in Quebec, and of Quebec, period. As I was very much interested by the
historical side of painting at the time, it felt like a good vehicle to play
with, which I was doing using a lot of irony, as a good postmodernist would do
in the 1980’s. Later, I went to Rome in 1991-92 where I
stayed for eight months. By then my
interests in painting had shifted as well as my approach to it. But I did view a lot of art while I was
there, visiting three churches a day for
three months ! I was very inspired
by what I saw during those visits. All
those bodies in these religious paintings were fascinating to me. At that time, I was interested in the figure
and the pose and how to carry that over into my work. Looking at these paintings was very instructional
in helping me to develop my self-portraits series.
VaVa: Your late 1980s to 1990s works encompass a
variety of paintings from wall sized self-portraits and diptych-style
sculptural pieces to smaller paintings of objects and places infused by the
banal. What influenced you to create such a diverse span of works then?
Pierre: When I
was a young artist, things would move very fast. I would explore something, get
what I needed, and move on to the next project. I worked on the self-portrait
series from 1989 to 1994. In these works, I felt like I had to confine myself
to very narrow parameters. The system was in place, with the use of the same
figure, the same colors and the same sizes of canvases. It was almost ascetic.
I felt I needed to limit myself to this kind of rigor to get to the next level.
This happened when I did a small painting from a snapshot I took in Rome. I did
that painting as a guilty pleasure, fearing that it was too old-fashioned and
romantic. But it was quite fun to do; it felt like all the efforts and research
I had put into the self-portraits were giving me rewards. Even now, I still
work using snapshots that I take when I travel mostly and that depict objects
and places. |
| "Portrait des échevins de Paris", (1984), enamel and objects on paper, 254 cm x 346.5 cm Photo: Richard Max-Tremblay |
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| "Pierre Dorion", (1995), Art Gallery of York University, Installation view Photo: Unknown |
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| "Transept", (1992), oil on canvas and lacquered wood, 236 cm x 338 cm x 99 cm Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay |
Pierre: Partially. I wanted to make a sculptural piece
that would include paintings like a three dimensional freestanding framing device.
I wanted the piece to evocate both minimalist sculpture and religious furniture; to have one foot in the past and the
other in the contemporary world. I also
felt there was a kind of austerity shared by both these styles. It does look like a confessional, but it’s
mute as there is no confession happening and the figures are isolated, one
being on each side of the piece. It feels like there’s a kind of secret or
mystery hidden somewhere in there.
VaVa: During the
early years, you would salvage various types of old used frames to use on your
tableaux. Do you still do this?
Pierre: No, I
stopped using that kind of approach quite some time ago. I still have a
collection of old frames in the studio which I feel I should dispose of but don’t! If I were to use framing devices today, they
would be more contemporary and less antique.
VaVa: You
possess an amazing ability to turn an empty space into your own private Idaho,
so to speak. Is the plan already in your
head before you begin to work on a new painting?
Pierre: The work
starts when I take a snapshot. Whatever
I photograph, there are already some important decisions being made in the
composition of the image, for example the framing or the lightning. Back in the studio, the translation of the
snapshot into painting is where all these elements get adjusted. It’s like creating
a condensation of these images borrowed from the world.
VaVa: Your style
has become more minimalist in recent years. When did you begin to use anonymous street
images?
Pierre: I’ve
been working with these kind of
images since 1994, but lately the aspect of these places has changed. My paintings have become increasingly
minimalist and as a result the boundaries between architecture, painting and
photography in these works are blurred. You’re not quite sure anymore at what
you’re looking at. Is it an “abstract” painting, a kind of geometrical abstraction? Also, the streets that I chose to represent lately are located in
Chelsea in New York City, where there is an abundance of art galleries. All of these anonymous places have some kind
of connection to the art world, the art history of now.
VaVa: How many
works of art have you created over the span of your career?
Pierre: I’ve
been exhibiting since 1983, making an average of a dozen paintings a year, so
you do the math! I’m too spooked by it!
VaVa: What are some of the
most prestigious awards you have won throughout your career?
Pierre: Beside several grants from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and from the Canada Arts Council, I received one award which was the Louis-Comtois prize, a prize given to a mid-career artist that is awarded from the the city of Montréal and l’AGAC (l’association des galeries d’art contemporain), in 1997
VaVa: We both share a common passion for music of all genres, the more obscure the better and we both have quite the eclectic collections of vinyl. Do you listen to music while working and are you still collecting vinyl?
Pierre: Music is part of my life, my work and the ritual of my studio routine. I start the morning off listening to classical music CDs and later on put the I-Pod on shuffle. I like the surprises it offers. I still like to play vinyl downstairs in my living area and enjoy that sound quality but have stopped collecting. I might still buy a vinyl album from time to time, though.
VaVa: Do you take time off to vacation and if so, what have been your favorite places to visit?
Pierre: In the last decade or so, I’ve been going back to the same places. New York City is a regular destination where I enjoy visiting art galleries three or four times a year. Italy comes in second. I like to take a summer vacation there every two years or so and also enjoy taking in the Venice Biennale. Another regular spot is Rome.
VaVa: While holidaying, are you on the look-out for new images and influences or do you tune out and just relax?
Pierre: While I’m on vacation, I do relax and always bring my camera but those photos are mostly unrelated to my paintings. For work-related images, I must say that New York City is where I’ve been taking the majority of my pictures in the last few years.
VaVa: What are you working on for 2013?
Pierre: My last deadline for this year is in the spring. I’m currently working on a painting for a group show on contemporary Canadian painting for the Galerie de l’UQAM. Other than that I have no shows planned, so I can take some time off experimenting in the studio. But you never know! There’s always a surprise around the corner and another deadline may pop up sooner or later! That’s one of the exciting aspects of this job. There’s a lot of uncertainty but also a lot of wonderful surprises. You never know what’s going to happen next!
Pierre: Beside several grants from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and from the Canada Arts Council, I received one award which was the Louis-Comtois prize, a prize given to a mid-career artist that is awarded from the the city of Montréal and l’AGAC (l’association des galeries d’art contemporain), in 1997
VaVa: We both share a common passion for music of all genres, the more obscure the better and we both have quite the eclectic collections of vinyl. Do you listen to music while working and are you still collecting vinyl?
Pierre: Music is part of my life, my work and the ritual of my studio routine. I start the morning off listening to classical music CDs and later on put the I-Pod on shuffle. I like the surprises it offers. I still like to play vinyl downstairs in my living area and enjoy that sound quality but have stopped collecting. I might still buy a vinyl album from time to time, though.
VaVa: Do you take time off to vacation and if so, what have been your favorite places to visit?
Pierre: In the last decade or so, I’ve been going back to the same places. New York City is a regular destination where I enjoy visiting art galleries three or four times a year. Italy comes in second. I like to take a summer vacation there every two years or so and also enjoy taking in the Venice Biennale. Another regular spot is Rome.
VaVa: While holidaying, are you on the look-out for new images and influences or do you tune out and just relax?
Pierre: While I’m on vacation, I do relax and always bring my camera but those photos are mostly unrelated to my paintings. For work-related images, I must say that New York City is where I’ve been taking the majority of my pictures in the last few years.
VaVa: What are you working on for 2013?
Pierre: My last deadline for this year is in the spring. I’m currently working on a painting for a group show on contemporary Canadian painting for the Galerie de l’UQAM. Other than that I have no shows planned, so I can take some time off experimenting in the studio. But you never know! There’s always a surprise around the corner and another deadline may pop up sooner or later! That’s one of the exciting aspects of this job. There’s a lot of uncertainty but also a lot of wonderful surprises. You never know what’s going to happen next!
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| "Tie", (2007), oil on linen, 60 inches x 40 inches Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay |
All
photos, links and MAC interview reproduced herein with the kind permission of
Pierre Dorion, Galérie René Blouin, Jack Shainman, Diaz Contemporary and the Musée
d’art contemporain de Montréal.
