Lot
30
Sans titre
Mixed media, painting, charcoal, collage, 2004
91,5 x 112 cm
Estimate
$2 700
There is a very delinquent side and a wrathful dimension in certain spheres of contemporary North American spirituality. The spiritual practice is in a state of flux; one can suppose that its iconography is in the same state. Sylvain Bouthillette proposes to explore and reinvest this iconography here. Ridicule, impermanence, confusion, instability, ambiguity, uncertainty and embarrassment can become liberating if we let go of the idea that life is stable and definable.
Biographical note
Born in 1963, Sylvain Bouthillette lives and works in Montreal. He is a multidisciplinary artist, whose work moves between music, dance, installation, painting and photography. Whatever the medium, his works tend to demonstrate that the ridiculous, the impermanent, confusion, instability, ambiguity, uncertainty, and embarrassment are all forms of liberation if we stop believing that life is stable and definable. Through his work, which is as much a mystic quest as an aesthetic pursuit, he attempts to reconcile spiritual values with the intellectualism of critical discourse. Bouthillette has shown his work across Canada, the US and Europe, among others, at Optica, Clint Roenisch Gallery in Toronto, the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon, the Front Store gallery in Basel, Saint Mary's University Art Gallery in Halifax, L’Œil de poisson in Québec City, the Néon gallery in Lyon, and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. His works are part of collections of the Banque Nationale, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Giverny Capital, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and of several private collections.