Biography

Jean-Claude Poitras was born in Montreal in 1949. After completing classic studies, he earns a diploma in fashion design from the École des Métiers commerciaux as well as a second diploma in graphic design from Studio Salette in 1971. Even in his teenage years, he was fascinated by all aspects of design, ranging from interior to industrial design.

In 1972, Poitras opened “Parenthèse”, his first design studio. After spending three years as director and buyer at Eaton’s Adam Boutique, he introduces his first women’s line in 1977 for high-end clothing manufacturers Beverini and Auckie Sanft.  His BOF by Jean-Claude Poitras collection will be hailed by the media as well as retailers throughout Canada. In 1983, his career soars to new heights through his partnership with Importations Frank, a renowned manufacturer and distributor: the Jean-Claude Poitras collection was born. He turns to the East to manufacture his new unique silk wear designs. He introduces hand-painted designs to his silk and linen creations, redefining the notion of art in clothes.

In 1985, he expands his ready-to-wear collection to include sheepskin and leather men’s and women’s outerwear for International Trademarks Apparel, a Toronto manufacturer. New York’s Bergdorf Goodman honour his talent in their window display on 5^th Avenue.  A luxurious fur collection for Amsel & Amsel is unveiled in 1986 and he introduces his first men’s line a year later. He branches out, creating licensed fashion accessories: eyeglasses, watches, footwear, etc.

Always the visionary, he is the first designer to create exclusive men’s wear for Le Château retail stores in 1990. His endeavours at democratising fashion and making it accessible to all is considered as very bold and revolutionary at the time. In 1991, the merger of Poitras design and Irving Samuel, the biggest Canadian manufacturer will confirm his repeated efforts of bringing together the antimonic worlds of creators and manufacturers. In 1993, he revives BOF:  this collection will become his biggest retail line, co-existing in perfect harmony with his Jean-Claude Poitras high-end label. In 1998, with Colette Chicoine, Poitras opens Duo sur Canapé. The boutique’s concept, introducing a unique fashion and home collection, will win the prestigious Cadillac Fairview’s ARC award for achievement in retail concept in 1998.

Recipient of the Order of Canada and the Ordre national du Québec, JeanClaude Poitras’ talent and determination serve as model for a whole new generation of young Canadian creators. In October 2000, he receives the Griffe d’Or in homage to the successes of his 28 year career as a pioneer and always innovative and relevant creator who has charmed the fashion world for over a quarter of a century.

To celebrate his 30 years in fashion in 2002, the Éditions de l’Homme publish his biography “Jean-Claude Poitras : Portrait d’un homme de style”, written by Anne Richer. This period marks a turning point for the creator who then explores other avenues of the world of design and takes up new challenges, always off the beaten track. From his “Nota Bene design” studio, he will conceive remarquable and eclectic creations that will renew the universe of multidisciplinary design. For this exceptional creator, the future is to design without borders.

Rémi Bergeron was born in Chicoutimi. He studies art at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi and goes on to work for many years as props and stage designer. During this time, he gradually develops a sculptural process though which he questions objects predetermined role.

His fields of exploration include the correlation between objects and the suggestion of movement. The simplicity of his works’ compositions and the realistic movements of his characters’ gestural languages are quite surprising. Through a minimalist use of the selected objects, a body’s structure is born: real life characters and figures emerge, revealing lines that are simply yet masterfully assembled.

In the artist’s view, objects are the active witnesses of our passage on earth, surviving us and steeped in our history. This is why he usually favors pieces from another era, relics from the past tainted with distinctive flavors. He rarely tinkers with the objects themselves; the artist’s brilliant assemblage coupled with the undeniable marks of time over matter give the works a unique character and an organic atmosphere that transcends time.

THE SYMPTOMATIC ARCHAEOLOGY OF MODERN TIMES

Throughout the years, my lamps have become sculptures that light up. All of them made from recycled objects, all of them witnesses of our history. I’m a creator, aesthete turned recycler, a symptom of my ethico-politico consciousness.

My current works condense my investigation fields caught between my career as jeweller, sculptor and lampman. I create from the miscellaneous objects I stumble across at auctions, garage sales, scrap yards. My jewel making know-how gives me the ability to recognise the craftsmanship and artistic exploitability of the object.   

I realised that each object, diverted from its primary function, could find a new reincarnation in my lamps, and above all, give my inspiration a direction. Through my work as lighting technician, I’ve become an archaeologist recycler. My workshop now serves as an incubator for the lasting, a kind of memory factory.

Today, science and technology evolve so fast that we hardly notice the changes.  In the past, we advanced slowly, harmoniously in pace with nature. The blink of eye transformations only accelerate the destruction of yesterday’s objects; they either move us deeply or can only be used in a very precise context.   

In an age when banks are commercial enterprises and churches, night-clubs, we need to take notice of the extraordinary interchangeability of form and function. All of the objects I gather are incomplete forms that have the ability to interact with one another.

Human ignorance blindly destroys our rich historical heritage, matter eclipsed by a virtual world.

Through my work, I invite you to rediscover material remnants, relics that rekindle our desire, our honest longing through their new lives.  

This is what it’s all about: acquiring or creating an object that speaks to the soul. The sculptor tells a story through matter. The recycler allows matter to tell its story, through structured, sculpted assemblies.  In my personal way, I break the “buy and throw away” cycle of consumerism, reinvest in the mindful and reverse today’s waste generating process.

And that, in the end, we just learn to make due with less.

Bruno Gérard

 March 26th to April 20th, 2011

BETWEEN BREL AND ME…

Born on the shores of the Mediterranean, Danièle Parinello has lived in a true nomadic spirit. When she arrived in Quebec in 1967, she had already journeyed through many European and North American lands. The sharp contrasts of these eclectic landscapes are forever etched in her memory, like a coloured kaleidoscope.

Wavering between wonder and nostalgia, she paints with grand movements, in spontaneous thrusts, relieving tension to make way for emotions and memories, leaving the spectator to enjoy his own playful travels.  

Danièle Parinello studied fine arts at the Université du Québec in Montréal. She has held many exhibits in Montréal, Toronto as well as New-York. Her works can be found in many private and important corporate collections, such as Samson Bélair Deloitte & Touch (Montréal), Watanabé (Hiroshima), Pouget et Associés (Toulouse), Groupe Pelège (Marseille), Gautier, SA (Nantes). 

March 26th to April 20th, 2011

UNDETERMINED SPACES

My paintings are not the result of intent; they come from energy, from a gripping moment in time. They are forces in action. They are not representations. Without trivial details, without display, my artistic path thrives for liberation from all aesthetic theory. It requires the magnitude of vital thrust.

My whole body is involved in wide-scale gestures, the rhythm of the movements which often mimic dancing or swirling. My breath is also a player.

Colour is a reality whose fluidity must be controlled in the act. I take on either resistant or submissive canvass. This meeting produces a sensation and an action, a hand-to-hand combat of sorts. This on-the-spot work produces a condensation of moment to moment coloured flows. I prefer this energy which allows my movements to develop, organise and uncover these spaces.

Voluntarily undetermined spaces which will become a focal point that each new glance will revive.

Magali studied fine arts at the Université de la Sorbonne. She has had many solo exhibits in Paris and in Japan.

February 23th to March 22th 2011

États d’âme 

Joann Côté was born in Montréal in 1967. Her technical studies in women’s fashion design lead her to understand that it wasn’t the creation process that thrilled her as much as the spirit and movements of those who wore the clothing… For the past 10 years, she has been completely devoted to art: painting, sculpting and jewellery making. In a converted garage, loud speakers blaring out loud intense music, Joann works in her “parallel” world inhabited by female creatures.

 Recipient of many awards, her paintings are showcased in many private and corporate collections in Canada, Central America and the United States.

Artist’s word

    “I’m a protagonist in modern women’s lives and struggles. My artistic endeavours revolve around the pursuit of happiness through family, love and professional balance. Moments of pure ecstasy as well as profound disillusion are part of my work tools. Hints of my own frailty and child-like enthusiasm bleed through the clashing turmoil of aggressive lines and sinuous curves born from the duality between the uneasiness of woman’s vulnerability and the image of societal expectations.

 ”The fairly theatrical style versus pictorial asceticism of the canvas accentuates all of the spontaneity of my moods or more precisely my “États d’âme”. Explosive gestures created by the urgency of living intensely mirror the ever-increasing pace of our lives. It constantly rushes us, even abuses us on occasion. Time, a rare commodity in the 21st century, slips right through our fingers… This is why I chose to invite art lovers into my parallel world where time finally seems to stand still.”

February 23th to March 22th 2011

SALVAGEABLES

 Nathalie Trépanier has been involved in the art world for many years. She studied acting at the Conservatoire d’art dramatique de Montréal from 1988 to 1991, and took to the stage for a few years. She then turned her sights to sculpture and design of utilitarian objects. 

   “I’m a treasure hunter, either on a beach in Gaspésie, in the garbage cans of my neighbourhood or in an industrial scrap yard… All of a sudden, in these piles of inanimate objects, I discover strange and zany beings who call out to me.  This sets the stage for the birth of another character in my series of “salvageables”  

 These “salvageables” are made from a throng of objects put together with ingenuity and a touch of dare. Door handles, bicycle wheels, teapots, ski bindings; they all are part of the many disparate objects used in Nathalie’s creations. To be in contact with her work always brings a sense of joy. The marvel and magic work every time! Even after hours of scrutiny, the spectator still discovers new objects of amazement and surprise embedded in the sculpture. 

 Nathalie now works full-time at creating a wide range of works: sculptures, lamps and furniture, each one made from salvaged materials. Since 2003, Nathalie Trépanier has shown her works in solo or collective exhibitions in the Montérégie region as well as in and around Montréal. She has also created the interior design of many public and private places. Each of her pieces reveals the creative imagination of the artist, as much through the choice of materials as through their unexpected combinations, and her zest for life.  

March 26th to April 20th, 2011

Between wonder and nostalgia

Born on the shores of the Mediterranean, Danièle Parinello has lived in a true nomadic spirit. When she arrived in Quebec in 1967, she had already journeyed through many European and North American lands. The sharp contrasts of these eclectic landscapes are forever etched in her memory, like a coloured kaleidoscope.

Wavering between wonder and nostalgia, she paints with grand movements, in spontaneous thrusts, relieving tension to make way for emotions and memories, leaving the spectator to enjoy his own playful travels.  

Danièle Parinello studied fine arts at the Université du Québec in Montréal. She has held many exhibits in Montréal, Toronto as well as New-York. Her works can be found in many private and important corporate collections, such as Samson Bélair Deloitte & Touch (Montréal), Watanabé (Hiroshima), Pouget et Associés (Toulouse), Groupe Pelège (Marseille), Gautier, SA (Nantes). 

March 26th to April 20th, 2011

UNDETERMINED SPACES

My paintings are not the result of intent; they come from energy, from a gripping moment in time. They are forces in action. They are not representations. Without trivial details, without display, my artistic path thrives for liberation from all aesthetic theory. It requires the magnitude of vital thrust.

My whole body is involved in wide-scale gestures, the rhythm of the movements which often mimic dancing or swirling. My breath is also a player.

Colour is a reality whose fluidity must be controlled in the act. I take on either resistant or submissive canvass. This meeting produces a sensation and an action, a hand-to-hand combat of sorts. This on-the-spot work produces a condensation of moment to moment coloured flows. I prefer this energy which allows my movements to develop, organise and uncover these spaces.

Voluntarily undetermined spaces which will become a focal point that each new glance will revive.

Magali studied fine arts at the Université de la Sorbonne. She has had many solo exhibits in Paris and in Japan.

November 16th to January 12th, 2011

À TRAVERS

José Dupuis was born in Toronto in 1962.

Influenced by butoh dance and calligraphy, this instinctive and visceral artist scrutinises the invisible and ever changing states of humans.  It’s the starting point for a dynamic gestural art dominated by the subconscious: lines breathe, soar, examine inner layers, penetrate, chisel and caress. In À travers, a series of canvass and paper works, shadowy beings allow the essence of usually imperceptible sights bleed through, unveiling a blossom of roots and unspoken words from within.

With degrees in Visual Arts, Scenic Design, and a M.A. in Performing Arts, José Dupuis received a FCAR scholarship to travel to Japan and study with renowned butoh dancer and choreographer Kazuo Ohno, in 1997. Profoundly touched by the master, her artistic approach and world take on an indelible Asian tinge. Through the “dance of darkness”, she discovers the luminous expression of the world of the living. From that point on, breathing, transformations, transiency, life and death, eroticism, macrocosmos and microcosmos will lead to a highly sensitive transcription of her inner landscapes. She is also introduced to traditional Japanese painting by artist Ilan Yanisky (Tokyo) and calligraphy by Tomoko Kodama (Ottawa) who teaches her the synchronisation of body, breathing and hand in the art of painting.

José Dupuis lives and works in Montréal. She has been teaching drawing at the Option Théatre of Collège Lionel Groulx since 1997. Her works and artist’s books have been shown in Montréal and in France.

Overview of the work