SÉBASTIEN GAUDETTE

Mixed Media

Opening Sunday June 4 at 2 p.m.

The artist, known for his explorations of the many facets of the crumpling of paper, creates for this exhibition perfect trompe-l’oeil through drawing and sculpture. In the form of a celebratory improvisation, echoing the intricacies of the creative process, crumpled, folded or torn paper becomes the narrative framework of his creation. Navigating between sculpture, drawing, writing and installation, Gaudette graphically creates a dialogue where gesture and color leave only an imprint, a trace of a movement, a transformation towards more complexity, thus questioning the preconceptions that we bring to it.

Paper is not just a two-dimensional surface. It is a moldable material, which can give rise to pictorial compositions with complex shapes and dimensions. His explorations around this subject allow him to constantly redefine the terms and limits of a completely different language around paper.

His work borrows a variety of techniques, materials and tools. His sculptures are most often worked from rigid aluminum plates in which he painstakingly fashions paper trompe-l’oeil in various forms: loose sheets torn from a notebook, adhesive tapes, castles of cards, paper planes , copies of schoolchildren or love letters from youth. All are colorful and playful. His drawings, meanwhile, leave room for improvisation and error of gesture, while being imbued with realism and great precision. The artist never uses an inkjet printer or 3D printer. All his works are exclusively handmade. Manual work is truly an integral part of his vision of art.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Sébastien Gaudette is a multidisciplinary artist who lives and works in Montreal. After university studies in visual and media arts at the Université́ du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), he undertook in-depth research into the medium of paper.

Gaudette’s works have been exhibited in various places in Quebec, including the Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke and that of Mont-Saint-Hilaire, the Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent, the Center national d’exposition de Jonquière, at the Cirque du Soleil, in several Maisons de la Culture as well as at the Foire Papier in Montreal. He also participated in charitable events, including the auction of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal and that of the Laurentians. Outside the province, he has exhibited his work at the Art Helix Gallery in Brooklyn, and at various international fairs, including Art on Paper in Miami, Seattle Art Fair and Toronto Art Fair. The artist has also been the guest of several research residencies which have allowed him to explore his approach in different creative contexts.