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On November 1st, 2008, Guy Montpetit opened another exhibition. Vernissave photos can be seen here: http://agenceespionne.com/?p=887
My article was submitted for the November edition of Laurentian Sun for the November 19th 2008 edition.
Guy Montpetit - A Remarkable Journey within Quebec’s Modern Art
Written by Ilania Abileah
Photo: Guy Montpetit - INVITATION to the exhibition starting November 1st 2008.
The invitation to this exhibition of Guy Montpetit shows a photo of the Artist in his younger years. The exhibition this time concentrates on how his art evolved through the years. There are paintings dating back to the 1960s and 70s and even some laminated photographs of his public space projects.
Photo: Guy Montpetit enjoys a speech during the Vernissage of his exhibition, November 1st, 2008 at the Maison du village exhibit centre in Val David.
At the Vernissage on November 15th, 2008 the place was filled with friends, fans and family members. People were reminiscing about the years when young Quebec modern artists started to pave their way and become known to the public. When speaking to Guy Montpetit himself, he said that the 60s and 70s were very favourable for art production. The milieu was explosive, there was exchange between the artists, a sense of adventure, and the teachers were very involved with their art students. Guy himself studied with Albert Dumochel, the well known Quebec printmaker.
What Guy did in those years (1964 onwards) is paint in flamboyant “pastel” colours which in those days nobody used. He painted canvases that had references to landscape and a connection to nature elements such as air and water. He painted a series of 26 canvases entitled “Where are you? (Où êtes vous donc?), then he passed on to paint his famous “Sex Machine” series (some of which were shown at the Laurentian Museum of Contemporary Art in 2006).
Guy worked many years in education, his work led him to create images suggestive of children’s’ games. After he read a book by Carl Jung on the subject of archetypes and symbols, he studied the language of forms that repeat and reflect; his direction became psycho-pedagogic.
In this exhibition Guy Montpetit is still teaching. He wishes to transmit a message to young artists that they should make their own research and find their own language. He is showing the process of finding his own language and breaking away from the general cliché. His message is “preserve your individuality, fight fast food! Make your own lunch!”
The paintings shown on the first floor include his early suggestive landscapes as well as his studies in the play of forms. There is a triptych that shows such a play of repetitive forms. There is also an early large canvas with patterns which in his words were prophetic, since he did it long before he was commissioned to do the monument at the “Assomption” metro station in Montreal.
The drawing and paintings upstairs include a set of charcoal drawings done during the six years that he decided to relinquish colour and go back to pure essential, non-decorative structure, but emotion expressed. He further developed these themes to improvise in colour expressing spontaneity. Guy Montpetit is of the opinion that an artist’s body of work is like a journal of life. This exhibition is indeed his journey within the Quebec Modern Art world.
Photo: A Charcoal drawing by Guy Montpetit.
Guy Montpetit – « Un parcours singulier dans l’art moderne québécois » Centre d’exposition, La Maison du village, 2495, rue de l’Église, Val-David. info@culture.val-david.qc.ca 819-322-7474. The exhibit will be open until February 22nd, 2009.
Photo: A view of Guy Montpetit exhibit hall downstairs, at Maison du Village, Val David. The Exhibition continues until February 22nd, 2009. (Photo – compliments of Laurence-Amélie Montpetit).
Photo: A view of Guy Montpetit exhibit hall upstaires, at Maison du Vullage, Val David. (Photo - compliments of Laurence-Amélie Montpetit).
Photo : Guy Montpetit, mural in St-Henri, Montreal, winner of the competition « maxi-mini mûrs Benson & Edges.” 1972. Photo credit: Format Inc.
A dazzling display of colour shapes that vibrate
kinetically
or
Playful Paintings that Push, Pull, Tug and Yank
Guy
Montpetit’s
retrospective exhibition "Animations sensibles" at the
Laurentian Museum of Contemporary Art includes captivating and vividly
colourful paintings done during 1961-1996.
There
are hard-edged paintings from 1968-1971, that invite the viewer to a fantasy of toys
coming to life with titles such as
Deux
Cultures,
une nation,
Hommage aux patriots québécois
(triptych), and from 1972-1978,
which define colour fields in decorative enlarged curved motifs from the
series Le temps de vivre, and series V5.
There
is a landscape from the 60s, Du côté de l’ouest canadien, which
attracted many viewers, charcoal drawings from the 80s,
and
a triptych from the 1996 series entitled
L'Altérité des saisons de la vie.
There
are display cases with sketch books, drawings for the mural at Maison
Radio
Canada in Montreal, and photographs from projects
Montpetit was involved in: the 1% integration of art and architecture,
and the Society of Professional Artists of Quebec.
At
first glimpse, one is immediately attracted to those nicely shaped
Mechano-toy strips with predrilled holes,
the perfect construction toy for kids of all ages.
Montpetit paintings push, pull, tag and yank, in a dazzling display of
colour shapes, which vibrate in kinetic motion. The colours are playful
bright hues of yellows, greens, blues and reds against a dotted or flat
background.
When
discussing the playfulness, humour one draws from his paintings,
Montpetit proudly explains that indeed he worked with children. He
developed a program for teaching the deaf & mute, helping them express
visually, what they feel and can’t say. The use of construction parts
came about while working on murals for public spaces, such as the mural
at the Montreal Metro station L’Assomption (1976).
The
illustrated catalogue, written by curator
Jules Arbec,
gives a good overview of the cultural climate in Quebec in the 60s,
starting with the Quiet Revolution, le Refus Global, and the art
movements of the decade: Automatists (Paul-Émile Borduas), Avant-Garde
(Alfred Pellan) Pop’Art, the American Abstract Expressionists,
Minimalists (Kenneth Noland, Frank Stella), the neo-plasticiens (Guido
Molinari, Claude Tousignant), and print maker (Albert
Dumouchel),
who were factors in Montpetit’s creative path, be it the
formal aesthetics or the role of the artist in society.
The
images provided in the catalogue also include 3-dimensional works, which
were not brought over from the Montreal Contemporary Art Museum. No
recent work is shown, probably because Montpetit concurrently opened an
exhibition at the Galerie d’arts contemporains de Montréal. Montpetit
participated in many exhibits, and received numerous awards, prizes and
grants within the Quebec cultural system. The exhibition lauds
Montpetit’s artistic career. Monpetit
said at the Vernissage that he was touched, seeing all the people who
came to see the work he did and has yet to do. It is an exhibition well
worth seeing.
Guy Montpetit at the vernissage, 12 March 2006.
Jules Arbec addresses the public, next to him André Marion,
Director of Musée d'art contemporain des Laurentides, Guy
Montpetit and Stanley Bornstein, owner of Galerie d'arts
contemporains de Montréal. |
Hommage aux Patriots québécois, triptych 2, 1971,
acrylic on canvas, 203 x 489 cm.
The catalogue depicts mechano parts on some of the image pages.
I have scanned 3 images from the catalogue itself. |
Guy Monpetit in front of the triptych Sexe Machine, 1970,
acrylic on canvas, 213,5 x 438 cm
Nathalie-Isabelle-Manon, triptych, 1963-64 oil on canvas,
66 x 193 cm |
Montpetit, Serie V5 Nos 6 & 5. 1981, acrylic on canvas, 178
x 140 cm...on loan from the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art. |
3-dimensional work shown in the exhibit. |
Montpetit, Gouache on paper (not listed in catalogue) |
Colours
and dimensions artwork may be slightly different from the original.
