statement

Volte-Face (Turnabout) is the title of the diptych the technique of which is integral to my pictorial approach, that of gestural abstraction. Only here, I import markedly lyrical gestures and elements more from optical painting, such as vibration of colour that recall but are not in obeisance to the razzle-and-dazzle of classic op. I do employ coloured bands with the juxtaposition of vibrant and contrasting colours.†Surfaces are worked through a network of progressive nuances and gradations. I seek out radical gestures that act as counterpoint within the overall spatial organization.The two panels are spatially discontinuous but are united by their chromatic fusion to form a single work. The bands on the left generate a planar view while the right yields the effect of a demi-sphere.

One of the forces driving my creation is my consideration of the material world and my immediate environment. The current context in which consumer society plunges us is little inclined to let us live in the present. Unending appeals to be or have something else in order to make our lives ideal prompt us to focus our attention on the past or the future. For example, we look for miraculous ways to stay young, try to figure out how to make more money to afford a new car or squarely dream of another life. Our thoughts are spurred to break off from the ìhere and now.î To resist this disequilibrium, I try, when creating, to open a space onto the present as it unfolds in the studio between me and the painting. Nourished by my awareness of what is around me, this space provides me with concrete and living ground for exploration, giving rise to work with palpable materiality. This in turn incites viewers to pay particular attention to what is taking place as they view the work, allowing a back and forth motion between the paintings and viewersí own imaginations.

bio

born: 1975, LaPocatiére, Québec, Canada

education

Laval University, Quebec City, Canada, MFA, 2005
Laval University, Quebec City, Canada, BFA, 2002
Georgia State University, BFA, 2003

selected awards/honors

100 Painters of Tomorrow short-listed, 2013
RBC National Painting Competition semi-finalist, 2009
Loto-QuÈbec Grant for RepÈrage exhibition, Laval University's Visual Arts Gallery,Quebec City, 2008

selected publications

Aimia: Canadian art installation 2015, p-213
James D. Campbell, Intimacy and Plenum in the Paintings of Nathalie Thibault, ETC, edition 92-February 2011, p.64-65
James D. Campbell, The Phoenix Art, Frieze Magazine, London, UK- May 2010 The Phoenix Art: Viewing Paintingís Renewed Power- canadianart.ca, 2009

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Líemploi du temps, LE Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2013
Mes prétextes, Galerie Simon Blais, MontrÈal, QC, Canada, 2011
Détours, aller-retour, Usine C, MontrÈal, QC, Canada, 2010
Série Noire, LE Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada, 2010

selected group shows

Survey exhibition, CG2 Gallery, Nashville,Tennessee, U.S.A., 2015
S.A.U.V.A.G.E. Future Theatre Diamant, QuÈbec City, QC, Canada, 2013
The Phoenix Art, The Renewed life of Contemporary Painting, Curated by†: Robert Enright, Galerie Simon Blais MontrÈal, QC, Canada , 2009
Royal Bank of Canada National Painting Competition exhibition of the works of the semi-finalists and winners, MusÈe díart contemporain de MontrÈal, QC, Canada, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, ON, 200913 S.A.U.V.A.G.E. Future Theatre Diamant, QuÈbec City, QC