Presence / Emergence is a series of large format oil paintings (183cm X 143cm) giving full presence to the human body. Suspended in the upper part of the painting against an absolute black setting, these horizontal nude backs act as a poetic metaphor from which emanate both our strength as well as the more vulnerable aspect of ourselves. In the bottom part of the painting, a small face emerges, barely visible, almost like an apparition, gazing at the viewer. In the Montreal Gazette’s article entitled, Top Solo Show in Town, the art critic Henry Lehmann observes: Part of Despins’s triumph in such works is her ability to play emotion, something quite ephemeral and having no tangible existence, off against sheer physical surface, itself largely mute. A parallel series of small square paintings (76cm X 76cm) echoes what we see in the lower part of the large format oils. This series constitutes the artist’s visual exploration of the experience of sensing the body from within. It is this exploration that leads the artist to question the imperious quality and depth of what is perceived visually. What interests her is the gap between what is seen and what is felt. This rift calls into question the primacy, even the veracity, of sight. Through the felt sense, the body is perceived from within like a fluid mass, a space with indefinite boundaries. The concerns of this artist are not narrative, contextual or psychological. Rather, she seeks to throw into question our preconceived ideas and beliefs about the representation of the human body and to solicit the senses in a new way. Her painting is a way of reflecting a world that is complex, touching and fundamentally paradoxical. The art critic Dorota Kozinska recently wrote about the series in La Vie des Arts: Profoundly visual and emotional, these works explore an inner vision. Despins is in the foreground of young Quebec artists who seek to reinvent figurative painting.
The Virgin Mary Series 1
We view these images of women in ordinary clothing, hovering somewhere between crucifixion and resurrection. These references amplify the fragile and sensitive condition of an individual isolated in a space without visual or tactile landmarks. In this body of work, I am exploring the experience of suffering and transcendence, of limitation (physical and psychological) and boundarylessness, of embodiment and expansion.
We view these images of women in ordinary clothing, hovering somewhere between crucifixion and resurrection. These references amplify the fragile and sensitive condition of an individual isolated in a space without visual or tactile landmarks. In this body of work, I am exploring the experience of suffering and transcendence, of limitation (physical and psychological) and boundarylessness, of embodiment and expansion.
Montreal artist Elaine Despins was born in Chicoutimi, QC in 1956. She has devoted herself intensively to her painting for nearly a decade. In 2004, her series ,“Présence/Émergence” at the Maison de la Culture Frontenac in Montreal received particular attention. Her works can be found in many private and public collections, notably those of the Bibliothèque Nationale du Québec and of Loto-Québec.
Posts
