In spectacularly atmospheric abstract compositions, Montreal-based artist Annabelle Marquis combines paints and collage so that they flow together organically. In certain pieces, the expressive brushstrokes seem to bleed out from the paper fragments, as if the collage elements inspired Marquis’s painted forms. Elsewhere, however, cloud-like swaths of grays, reds, white and gold funnel towards a central cluster of pasted images, suggesting that, perhaps, the paints are crystallizing or condensing into a different material. Exploring each canvas is an alchemical process, changing in style, form and medium as the eye moves from diffuse painted sections into sharp and precise collage.
As acrylic and paper merge, sometimes imperceptibly, Marquis offers a new perspective on a style of quintessentially Quebecois Abstract Expressionism pioneered by Paul-Émile Borduas. The practically baroque, glossy textures and rich colors of the collage elements stand in stark contrast to the surrounding sparse acrylic fogs. By shaping and deploying cut-outs as if they were daubs of paint, Marquis tests our perception and helps us to see differently.
Distinctions
- 1er Jury distinction 26e Concours-Gala international Son et Lumière 2009
"Les ailes d'Icare"
- Finalist Concours national de peinture - Festival Rêves d'automne 2010, Baie St-Paul "L'accalmie du littoral"
Exhibitions
2010
Montréal, Exposition inspiré de l'oeuvre de Nelligan, Hôtel Nelligan 106 rue St-Paul Ouest
Montréal - 27e Concours-Gala international Son et Lumière
New York - Exposition collective Agora Gallery
Edmonton - West End Gallery
Espagne - Exposition collective Casa cultura Municipal de Cangas en Galice
Stanbridge - Galerie Relais des arts
Hollande - Exposition collective à la Galerie Frepel à Klareenbeek
Montréal - Vente aux enchères / Événement annuel " Dans le Jardin " Fondation du cancer du sein du Québec
Montréal - Exposition solo / Galerie La Maison Blanche
Montréal - Exposition collective / Foire aux Arts Contemporain de St-Lambert
New York - Agora Gallery
Montréal - Galerie Le Luxart
Montréal - Galerie d'art contemporaine La Maison Blanche
Montréal - Galerie Fabienne Rhein - Vente au profit d'Haïti pour la Croix Rouge
Québec - Galerie Perreault
2009
Montréal - 26e Concours-Gala international Son et Lumière
Montréal - Galerie Le Luxart
France - Exposition collective / Saint-Jean d'Angély, Charente Maritime
Montréal - Galerie d'art contemporaine La Maison Blanche
Montréal - Vente aux enchères / Événement annuel " Dans le Jardin " Fondation du cancer du sein du Québec
Montréal - Exposition solo / Café Romolo
2006
Montréal - Exposition solo / Café Romolo
PUBLICATIONS
BERNIER, Robert «Annabelle Marquis: Un monde suggéré», Parcours, vol.15, no 1, printemps 2010, p.102
Art is Spectrum the Chelsea Perspective, vol.23, May 2010, p.7
Décover Mag, #5, juin 2010, p.20
Lambert, vol 2, no 9, octobre-novembre 2010, p.38