#chanson de salomandre

[mcgiggers]

Québec City - January 2019 (Winter Road Trip)

Just back from a day trip to the province’s capital to take in the Marcel Barbeau exhibit, “Marcel Barbeau: in Motion”, at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.  The spontaneous outing was well worth the three-hour drive back and forth. The beautiful venue, great works and captivating story behind Barbeau all contributed to making the show a top-tier art viewing experience and a fantastic tribute to the artist, one of the signatories of the Refus Global, the manifesto that launched the abstract movement in Québec and across Canada in the late 40’s.

Notwithstanding Barbeau’s contribution to the art scene, the exhibit was his first major retrospective, and although long overdue, it magnificently put into perspective a career that spanned seventy years and one that featured leading edge experimentation and discovery in non-figurative art. In applying his craft, Barbeau used a broad array of techniques (staining, soaking, sprinkling, rubbing, scraping, cutting and pasting), materials (oil, ink, enamel, felt pen) and support mediums (paper, canvas, jute, wood panels). More importantly, however, and following his strong artistic intuition, Barbeau continuously pushed boundaries by pursuing various abstract styles that yielded his own brand of Automatism, tachiste works, minimalist drawings, collages, kinetic paintings, shaped canvases, sculptures and even transdisciplinary performance paintings.  As such, there was great variety in Barbeau’s creative output over the course of his career and the exhibit showcased many representative period pieces. The highlights included: “Rosier-feuilles”, 1946, oil on wood panel (19.3 x 29.7 in.), an early abstract gestural work that preceded the formation of the Automatist movement; “Natashkouan”, 1956, oil on canvas (71.7 x 83.9 in.), an all-over tachiste painting; “Régates”, 1964, acrylic on canvas (79.9 x 60.0 in.), an op art interpretation of surface patterns seen on the St. Lawrence River; “Aie aie aie Wawaska”, 1968, acrylic on canvas (80.7 x 66.3 in.), two minimalist canvases positioned to simulate moving shapes in space; “Le Mouvement du soir”, 1980, acrylic on paper glued on canvas (107.1 x 215.9 in.), a lyrical performance piece painted as part of a dance seminar at Bishop’s University; and, “Chanson de salomandre”, 2013, acrylic on canvas (53.9 x 53.9 in.), a pairing of previously explored styles - a curved line and random paint drippings on a monochrome base. Beyond these and numerous other specific works, the expansive views afforded by the fabulous exhibit space provided amazing vistas and the special opportunity to appreciate groupings of works.

Barbeau passed away in 2016 at the age of 90. Unfortunately, the exhibit concluded its run on Sunday and will not be travelling to other cities (at least not yet) where it could easily stand up to the best of the best, including in Paris and New York where Barbeau spent considerable time and produced great works.  As a small consolation, an exhibit catalog was published and is available.

 From the Plains of Abraham to Jurassic Park … after being humbled by Double-D and his Spurs (somehow that just doesn’t ring right), the Dinos bounced back with impressive back-to-back wins over the weekend. With K’Why at the helm (and no Lowry), the Raptors beat the Bucks for the first time this season, and then behind Lowry’s leadership in his highly anticipated return to the line-up (and no K’Why), they took care of the Pacers. At some point hopefully, these guys will be on the court at the same time for a few games in a row. As it stands, K’Why and Lowry have only played 21 of 42 games together. Developing a genuine comradery over the second half of the season will dictate how far this team goes beyond that. In the interim, the Dinos retain Eastern Conference bragging rights which is something fans can nervously continue to appreciate.

 For more information on Barbeau, the exhibit, or the fate of the Dinos as the second half of the season unfolds, “Just Google It”.

 There you have it sportsfans,

 MC Giggers

(www.mcgiggers.tumblr.com)

Reporter’s Certification

I, MC Giggers, hereby certify that the views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views and that no part of my compensation was or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific views expressed herein.

I also certify that I may or may not own, directly or indirectly, works of artists mentioned in this report and that I may or may not have a strong bias for such artists and, more generally, for “Pictures of Nothing”.

#art beat #mcgiggers #marcel barbeau #musee national des beaux-arts du quebec #automatist #refus global #regates #natashkouan #rosier-feuilles #aie aie aie wawaska #le mouvement du soir #chanson de salomandre #kyle lowry #kawhi leonard #raptors #spurs #DeMar DeRozan