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BioBorn in St-Hyacinthe in 1961, François Desnoyers studied visual arts in Montreal at Concordia university, from 1986 to 1989. He lives and works in Brossard, Canada, and has been represented by gallery Gora since 2003. He had his first important solo exhibition in 2000 at Maison de la culture Côte-des-Neiges, in Montreal.Desnoyers took part in notable group shows: the New Art Barcelona exhibition of 2002 and the municipal museum of Ourense (Spain 2006), at the international exhibition of Nantes Chantenay, for which he received an award for his body of work, and at the 21st exhibition of paintings and sculptures at the Chapelle Saint-Benoit-d’Argenton-sur-Creuse (France 2006 & 2007), for which he was awarded a special price for his contribution in promoting the art from Quebec on the international scene. His work is part of diverse private national and international collections, and through the Lavalin collection, it can be found in the museum of contemporary art of Montreal.In the 2000s, he has garnered recognition with works painted on large sheets of plywood by which he expresses the fragility of life. By using found objects and construction material, the large and somber works of this period oppose the natural warmth of the wood to the drama of human suffering. For example, in a key work from this period, “Maman” (2000), a woman’s body loses its consistency because she faces approaching death. Within her breast can be seen yet another death, that of her child with whom she shares the pain of having their world disappear. This leads him, in 2004, to explore the materiality of conscience through which he develops themes such as provenance and lineage, the presence and absence of life.Since 2015, elaborating further on the precarity of existence, the artist is developing a project entitled "Seconds Before Midnight" by which he concerns himself with the effects of global warming, human violence and mental health.Education
1986-1989: BFA in Studio art, Concordia university, Montreal, Canada Selected Solo Exhibitions
2015 "Recent Paintings", Gora gallery, Montreal, Canada Selected Group Exhibitions
2006 Festival of Japanese & Canadian Current Art, Montreal, Canada Recognition and honorary mentions
2007 Chapelle Saint-Benoit d'Argenton-sur-Creuse, Centre-Val de Loire, France, "21st exhibition of paintings and sculptures"
under the patronage of the Canadian embassy and the Town Hall of Argenton - for which he received an award for his contribution to the promotion
of art from Quebec on the international scene. Public and private collections
The Museum of Contemporary art of Montreal, Canada -
(The Lavalin Collection)
Selected events and commissions
2005 "Desnoyers on the Roof", Gora gallery, Montreal, Canada
Press and publications
"Poésie des gestes quotidiens", Le Courrier du Sud, june 30, p.33 (2007) |