Benoit Aquin immerses himself in his daily life and that of the communities he encounters, avoiding the impulse to spectacularize and exemplifying the benefits of extended study. The poetic rhythm of his work lies in the repetition of motifs, the superimposition of flat surfaces and the interplay of textures. A study of his photographic corpus reveals our environmental missteps, technological meanderings, and our remaining ability to commune with nature. Known for his ability to capture intensity and transformation, Aquin’s new work offers a ritualized, meditative engagement with shadow and light. Produced while on residency in Mexico, the El Sendero series is a continuation of his project Aimer la lumière (To Love the Light) and reveals an artist in the pursuit of both spiritual and aesthetic transcendence.
Benoit Aquin: The Path
Biography
For more than three decades, Benoit Aquin has worked to document the transformation of our physical world and its intersecting psychic evolutions. Particularly invested in environmental devastation, Aquin has travelled extensively and his series The Chinese “Dust Bowl” received the prestigious Prix Pictet. He has exhibited at the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography (1994); Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (1996), and Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2008) among others. He has participated in the Canadian Biennial (2012, 2017) and the Rencontres d’Arles in France (1991, 2014).