This will be the 8th edition of Foire en Art Actuel de Québec. The event will be held from March 25 to 27 at Espace 400e, in Quebec City. Curated by Paul Brunet, the 2022 edition will focus on the works of more than forty artists and will offer a wide range of mediums and styles. The curator selected the art based on his fascination for the painting « Paradis Liberté » [Freedom Paradise] by Serge Lemoyne (1941-1998).
Foire en arts actuel de Québec
Clovis-Alexandre Desvarieux
Clovis-Alexandre Desvarieux was born in Haiti and now lives in Montreal. He obtained a degree in engineering from Concordia University before devoting himself to visual arts. Desvarieux explores universal concepts through the prism of Haitian mythology and history, including voodooism. For example, the painting the painting “Ogou Phénix” represents Ogou Feray spirit; the deity of iron and determination who personifies victory. Desvarieux is interested in manifestations of the archetypes that orchestrate the Haitian spheres. He draws from the narrative universe of important Haitian masters, such as Hector Hyppolite, Philomé Obin, Jean-Claude Garoute, Louisianne Saint-Fleurant and André Pierre. He also incorporates influences from Western art movements such as abstract expressionism and cubism.
David Lafrance
Now installed on one of the slopes of Mont Saint-Hilaire, David Lafrance’s studio expands beyond its walls: outside and in nature. This region, which once inspired painters such as Ozias Leduc and Paul-Émile Borduas, is now at the heart of Lafrance’s work, who observes it closely and in real-time. If the artist painted imaginary places in the past without anchoring his subject into reality, he now depicts spaces he explores on a sensorial level. Paint layers are stacked on each other, in infinite palimpsests, like a stubborn rewriting of the territory within the same visual plane.
Manuel Mathieu
Born in Haiti, Manuel Mathieu is a multidisciplinary artist based in Montreal. He is best known for his vibrant, colourful paintings, which deftly merge abstraction and figuration. His work explores our intertwined lives, in which the lines between past and present, personal and political, are often blurred. While he shares memories of his own life experiences, such as a convalescence following a serious accident, Mathieu also blends into his canvases a reckoning with the complex history of his homeland. The painting “La planète fantastique” was inspired by the French science fiction animated film “Factastic Planet” (1973) which Mathieu considers as both beautiful and philosophical.