No rest for Marcel Barbeau this fall

08/02/2012 to 14/02/2013

Author :ROUSSEL, Daniel
Date : 09/02/2012
Studio portrait to promote Marcel Barbeau upcoming activities for fall 2012.

Unlike most people of his age, who are retired since a long time ago and, as survivors, are always in quest of a new activity in order to escape from solitude and boredom, Marcel Barbeau is still going to his workshop on a daily basis, where he joyfully pursues his work, discovering new paths for his paintings and sculptures. Free as art but not art free, Barbeau begins a new season, intensively creating and seeking for new audiences after keeping himself pretty busy during the winter and the spring: creation and installation of his mural entitled Les angles du regard at L’École des métiers de la construction de Montréal (his first ever public art contract in his career), solo exhibition of his work from 1951 to 2009 and a conference at the Musée d’art contemporain des Laurentides in St-Jérôme, participation in a second conference, along with his biographer’s art historian Ninon Gauthier, at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Calgary, in June, participation in the opening of the exhibition “The Automatist Revolution” at the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton, over and above his presence, much noticed, at the exhibition “La question de l’abstraction” that begun last spring at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, where two of his brilliant historical works were exposed. On September 9, he will be part of the opening of an exhibition marking the 20th anniversary of the Galerie Jean-Claude-Bergeron with his painting entitled L’escale, created last July especially for this event. Then, Marcel Barbeau will travel to France to take part in the opening of the exhibition “Art in War, France 1938-1947, from Picasso to Dubuffet” at the Musée d’art moderne de la Ville de Paris. Indeed, this exhibition will include one of his historical works, Nadja 2 (1946). It will be running at the museum until February 17. After his return from France, the exhibition “Marcel Barbeau: Mouvements, rythmes et accords” will begin on October 24 at the TD Lounge gallery, Maison du Festival de Jazz. Some unpublished work from his latest creations will be exposed, of which a very large sized work created for the occasion. The exhibition will run until December 23 and, on November 22, will be punctuated with a jazz improvisation night, a cocktail hour lead by a musical trio made of Éric Lagacé, contrabass, Taurey Butler, keyboards, and Jean-Pierre Zanella, saxo. As a contribution to this soiree, the artist will perform one of his vocal improvisations as a starting theme for the musicians. This soiree is under the coordination of Véronique Lacroix from the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal. Moreover, Marcel Barbeau will be represented at the Toronto Art Fair from October 26 to October 29. Several kiosks from different galleries will be exhibiting his work, notably the Waddington-Gorce Gallery of Toronto and the Galerie d’art Jean-Claude Bergeron, Ottawa.