Of Myths and Men: Mathieu Laca @ Patrick John Mills (traduction française plus bas)
Archange/Archangel, 2010
Ottawa, Canada’s quiet Capital, is known for
its conservatism. Last year, the Pop Life exhibit on pop art at the National
Gallery caused a bit of stir because some of its content was sexually explicit.
This year at the Patrick John Mills Gallery, owner Patrick John Mills will be
showing the colourful and sexually explicit works of Québec artist Mathieu Laca
(until August 27th).
At 29, artist and painter Mathieu Laca can pride himself on having come quite far in his chosen domain. A graduate of Concordia University’s visual arts program in 2005, his works have already appeared in several art publications and two pages have already been devoted to him in the encyclopaedia 100 Artists of the Male Figure, by E. Gibbons. Frequently shown at the Patrick John Hills gallery in Ottawa, the gallerist’s favourite artist never ceases to provoke reaction. 2B caught up with him recently… 2B: Your creations can seem provocative. Did you develop this aesthetic while you were studying at Concordia?
Mathieu Laca: When I was at school, what I wanted most was approval. I wanted my work to be appreciated and I leaned towards what I thought would look good rather than giving myself total freedom. It’s precisely in seeking to liberate myself from any pedagogical approach that I discovered my artistic personality. Today, I paint without compromise, without censuring myself.
2B: In this very sexualised homosexual aesthetic, there is an undeniable link to mythology. How did get the idea to reproduce this world in a sexual manner?
M.L. Today, we are rather chaste with art. We are easily shocked by sexuality. In the Greek or Roman eras, we can find lots of erotic imagery that explicitly described sex. We used these images to decorate buildings. People were not conditioned to be morally bothered by this imagery. Today, perhaps because of Judaeo-Christian heritage, we avoid these representations that we associate with pornography. This is precisely why I decided to illustrate an invented mythology that uses these symbols to expose, denounce, or criticise society. For example, in one of my paintings, we see a pope, dressed in a traditional costume, but who has the head of a coyote. He who is the ultimate incarnation of the shepherd suddenly becomes the enemy of the flock. It’s these types of symbols that I enjoy.
The analogy of instinct and primitive desire are stronger with animals that remind us of our origins. My objective is, in fact, to create a unique universe… Oscar Wilde said that the fable is more real than the truth. This is precisely what I am trying to reveal when I paint.
2B: This mythology necessarily adds a very excessive aspect to the erotic action that you illustrate…
M.L. My process also involves exaggerating this representation of sexuality, rendering it abhorrent, disturbing. There is a part of brutality in sexuality. There is a game where desire is a form of violence. These power dynamics that we maintain in society are also present in life. Often they can even intensify.
2B: What do you want your paintings to provoke in the viewer?
M.L. I want them to question themselves, whether they are disturbed by this vision of the world, and that is leads them to reflect. I’m not afraid of provoking or shocking people, though this is not my goal either.
2B: What is your creative process?
M.L. There is always a basic idea— generally a story to tell, a power dynamic. I reflect for a while before I start to paint. If my base idea is too provocative, it generally does not make it to the end. Shocking people for the sake of shocking people does not make for interesting material, nor is it powerful or interesting to create. That being said, when I begin to paint, I begin to transform my story into image and there are always surprises that modify what I was originally intending to do and that enrich the illustrated universe.
2B: Why is it important for you to integrate an erect penis into most of your works? How is this representation of the erect phallus symbolic for you?
M.L. For me, the erection says a lot. A penis in its natural state would not have the same expressive power. Sex can be a type of weapon. It also indicates arousal, something that is rather difficult to express in painting. But as I indicated earlier, I do not wish to paint an erection to shock the public. The representation of sexuality is something that is very strong, so its use has to be justified in the process.
2B: You are often shown at the Patrick John Mills gallery in Canada’s capital. What do you think of Ottawa?
M.L. It’s definitely a conservative city. Since it is the capital, it has to show an “immaculate” image to the country. Luckily, there are some audacious people who live there. With Patrick, owner of the gallery, I have found an extraordinary accomplice. A year ago, he literally fell in love with my work. He shows my work very often, and each time, they have a lot of success. He is not shy to show my work in the window, even if it can provoke tough reactions because of its explicit homosexual character. But Patrick deals well with controversy. What is important to him is art.
François Bernier, 2B Magazine, Vol.9 #6, p.36-38, August 18, 2011, Montréal
Visit 2B Mag's website here »
At 29, artist and painter Mathieu Laca can pride himself on having come quite far in his chosen domain. A graduate of Concordia University’s visual arts program in 2005, his works have already appeared in several art publications and two pages have already been devoted to him in the encyclopaedia 100 Artists of the Male Figure, by E. Gibbons. Frequently shown at the Patrick John Hills gallery in Ottawa, the gallerist’s favourite artist never ceases to provoke reaction. 2B caught up with him recently… 2B: Your creations can seem provocative. Did you develop this aesthetic while you were studying at Concordia?
Mathieu Laca: When I was at school, what I wanted most was approval. I wanted my work to be appreciated and I leaned towards what I thought would look good rather than giving myself total freedom. It’s precisely in seeking to liberate myself from any pedagogical approach that I discovered my artistic personality. Today, I paint without compromise, without censuring myself.
2B: In this very sexualised homosexual aesthetic, there is an undeniable link to mythology. How did get the idea to reproduce this world in a sexual manner?
M.L. Today, we are rather chaste with art. We are easily shocked by sexuality. In the Greek or Roman eras, we can find lots of erotic imagery that explicitly described sex. We used these images to decorate buildings. People were not conditioned to be morally bothered by this imagery. Today, perhaps because of Judaeo-Christian heritage, we avoid these representations that we associate with pornography. This is precisely why I decided to illustrate an invented mythology that uses these symbols to expose, denounce, or criticise society. For example, in one of my paintings, we see a pope, dressed in a traditional costume, but who has the head of a coyote. He who is the ultimate incarnation of the shepherd suddenly becomes the enemy of the flock. It’s these types of symbols that I enjoy.
The analogy of instinct and primitive desire are stronger with animals that remind us of our origins. My objective is, in fact, to create a unique universe… Oscar Wilde said that the fable is more real than the truth. This is precisely what I am trying to reveal when I paint.
2B: This mythology necessarily adds a very excessive aspect to the erotic action that you illustrate…
M.L. My process also involves exaggerating this representation of sexuality, rendering it abhorrent, disturbing. There is a part of brutality in sexuality. There is a game where desire is a form of violence. These power dynamics that we maintain in society are also present in life. Often they can even intensify.
2B: What do you want your paintings to provoke in the viewer?
M.L. I want them to question themselves, whether they are disturbed by this vision of the world, and that is leads them to reflect. I’m not afraid of provoking or shocking people, though this is not my goal either.
2B: What is your creative process?
M.L. There is always a basic idea— generally a story to tell, a power dynamic. I reflect for a while before I start to paint. If my base idea is too provocative, it generally does not make it to the end. Shocking people for the sake of shocking people does not make for interesting material, nor is it powerful or interesting to create. That being said, when I begin to paint, I begin to transform my story into image and there are always surprises that modify what I was originally intending to do and that enrich the illustrated universe.
2B: Why is it important for you to integrate an erect penis into most of your works? How is this representation of the erect phallus symbolic for you?
M.L. For me, the erection says a lot. A penis in its natural state would not have the same expressive power. Sex can be a type of weapon. It also indicates arousal, something that is rather difficult to express in painting. But as I indicated earlier, I do not wish to paint an erection to shock the public. The representation of sexuality is something that is very strong, so its use has to be justified in the process.
2B: You are often shown at the Patrick John Mills gallery in Canada’s capital. What do you think of Ottawa?
M.L. It’s definitely a conservative city. Since it is the capital, it has to show an “immaculate” image to the country. Luckily, there are some audacious people who live there. With Patrick, owner of the gallery, I have found an extraordinary accomplice. A year ago, he literally fell in love with my work. He shows my work very often, and each time, they have a lot of success. He is not shy to show my work in the window, even if it can provoke tough reactions because of its explicit homosexual character. But Patrick deals well with controversy. What is important to him is art.
François Bernier, 2B Magazine, Vol.9 #6, p.36-38, August 18, 2011, Montréal
Visit 2B Mag's website here »
Exposition: Mathieu Laca dit merci à Ottawa
Joyeux Anniversaire!/Happy Birthday!, 2010
Ottawa, ville tranquille et siège du
gouvernement canadien est reconnue pour son conservatisme. L’an dernier,
l’exposition La vie en pop du Musée des Beaux Arts du Canada, abordant le Pop
art, avait soulevé la controverse alors que certaines œuvres présentaient du
contenu sexuel explicite. Cette année, à la Galerie Patrick John Mills, le
propriétaire se fait un devoir d’exposer (jusqu’au 27 août) les œuvres colorées
et sexuées de l’artiste québécois Mathieu Laca.
À 29 ans, l’artiste-peintre Mathieu Laca peut se vanter d’avoir parcouru un chemin énorme dans son domaine. Diplômé en 2005 de Université Concordia en arts visuels, ses oeuvres se retrouvent déjà dans plusieurs publications d’art et deux pages lui sont consacrées dans l’encyclopédie 100 artists of the male figure, rédigé par E. Gibbons. Fréquemment exposé à la galerie Patrick John Mills d’Ottawa, l’artiste favori du galeriste qui ne cesse de faire réagir, nous parle de son travail.
Être. Vos créations peuvent apparaitre provocantes. Avez-vous développé cette esthétique durant vos années d’études à l’Université de Concordia?
Mathieu Laca. Quand j’étais à l’école, je cherchais surtout l’approbation. Je voulais qu’on apprécie mes œuvres et je privilégiais ce qui m’apparaissait être bon plutôt que de me donner une totale liberté. C’est précisément en cherchant à aller contre toute démarche pédagogique que j’ai découvert ma personnalité artistique. Aujourd’hui je peins sans compromis, sans censure.
Être. Il y a dans cette esthétique homosexuelle très sexuée un rapport indéniable à la mythologie. Comment vous est venue l’idée de reproduire ce monde de manière sexuelle?
M.L. Aujourd’hui, on est assez pudique par rapport à l’art. On est facilement choqué par la sexualité. À l’époque grecque ou romaine, on retrouvait beaucoup d’imagerie érotique qui décrivait explicitement l’acte sexuel. On s’en servait pour décorer les bâtiments. La population n’était pas conditionnée à être moralement dérangée par cette imagerie. Aujourd’hui, peut-être à cause de l’héritage judéo-chrétien, on évite ces représentations qu’on associe à de la pornographie. C’est précisément pourquoi j’ai décidé d’illustrer une mythologie inventée, qui utilise des symboles pour exposer, dénoncer ou critiquer la collectivité. Par exemple, dans une de mes toiles, on voit un pape, vêtu du costume traditionnel mais dont la tête est celle d’un coyote. Celui qui est l’incarnation ultime du berger devient alors l’ennemi du troupeau. C’est ce genre de symboles qui me plaisent.
L’analogie de l’instinct et le désir primitif sont plus forts avec des animaux qui nous rappellent nos origines. Mon objectif est en fait de fabriquer un univers propre qui sait mieux que le naturalisme représenter notre réalité. Oscar Wilde disait que la fable est plus réelle que la vérité. C’est précisément ce à quoi je tends quand je peins.
Être. Cette mythologie donne justement un aspect très excessif à l’action érotique que vous illustrez…
M.L. Ça fait aussi partie de ma démarche d’exagérer cette représentation de la sexualité, de la rendre aberrante, dérangeante. Il y a une part de brutalité dans la sexualité. Il y a un jeu où le désir est une forme de violence. Les rapports de force que nous entretenons en société sont aussi présents que dans la vie. Bien souvent ils sont même intensifiés.
Être. Que voulez-vous que vos toiles provoquent chez le spectateur?
M.L. J’ai envie qu’il se remette en question, qu’il soit dérangé par cette vision du monde et qu’elle le pousse à la réflexion. Je n’ai pas peur de provoquer ou de choquer les gens. Mais je ne le fais pas non plus dans ce but.
Être. Justement quelle est votre démarche créative?
M.L. Il y a toujours une idée de base. Généralement une histoire, un rapport de force. J’y réfléchis pendant un certain temps avant de commencer à peindre. Si mon idée de base est trop provocante, elle ne survit généralement pas à mes inspirations. Choquer pour choquer n’est un matériel ni assez puissant ni intéressant pour créer. Cela dit, quand j’arrive devant la toile, je commence à mettre en image mon histoire et il s’ajoute toujours des surprises qui modifient ce que j’envisageais au départ et qui enrichissent l’univers illustré.
Être. Pourquoi est-il important pour vous d’intégrer à la plupart de vos œuvres un pénis en érection? En quoi cette représentation d’un phallus actif est-elle symbolique?
M.L. Il y a selon moi beaucoup à dire avec l’érection. Ça n’aurait pas la même puissance expressive avec un pénis à l’état neutre. Le sexe peut devenir une sorte d’arme. Il indique aussi l’excitation, chose assez ardue à représenter en peinture. Mais comme je l’indiquais précédemment, je ne désire pas peindre une érection pour choquer le public. La représentation de la sexualité est quelque chose de très fort, il faut donc que son utilisation soit justifiée dans ma démarche.
Être. Vous êtes très souvent exposé à la galerie Patrick John Mills, dans la capitale canadienne. Que pensez-vous d’Ottawa?
M.L. Il est certain qu’il s’agit d’une ville assez conservatrice. Comme c’est la capitale, elle se doit de montrer une image «impeccable» du pays. Heureusement, il y a des gens audacieux qui y vivent. Avec Patrick, propriétaire de la Galerie John Mills, j’ai trouvé un complice extraordinaire. Il y a deux ans, il est littéralement tombé amoureux de mon travail. Il expose mes toiles très souvent et, à chaque fois, elles ont du succès. Il ne se gêne pas pour mettre mes toiles en vitrine, même si elles provoquent des réactions dues au caractère explicite du rapport homosexuel. Mais Patrick vit très bien avec la controverse. Ce qui importe pour lui, c’est l’art.
François Bernier, Magazine Être, p.20-21, Vol.16 #6, août 2011, Montréal
Visitez le site du magazine Être ici »
À 29 ans, l’artiste-peintre Mathieu Laca peut se vanter d’avoir parcouru un chemin énorme dans son domaine. Diplômé en 2005 de Université Concordia en arts visuels, ses oeuvres se retrouvent déjà dans plusieurs publications d’art et deux pages lui sont consacrées dans l’encyclopédie 100 artists of the male figure, rédigé par E. Gibbons. Fréquemment exposé à la galerie Patrick John Mills d’Ottawa, l’artiste favori du galeriste qui ne cesse de faire réagir, nous parle de son travail.
Être. Vos créations peuvent apparaitre provocantes. Avez-vous développé cette esthétique durant vos années d’études à l’Université de Concordia?
Mathieu Laca. Quand j’étais à l’école, je cherchais surtout l’approbation. Je voulais qu’on apprécie mes œuvres et je privilégiais ce qui m’apparaissait être bon plutôt que de me donner une totale liberté. C’est précisément en cherchant à aller contre toute démarche pédagogique que j’ai découvert ma personnalité artistique. Aujourd’hui je peins sans compromis, sans censure.
Être. Il y a dans cette esthétique homosexuelle très sexuée un rapport indéniable à la mythologie. Comment vous est venue l’idée de reproduire ce monde de manière sexuelle?
M.L. Aujourd’hui, on est assez pudique par rapport à l’art. On est facilement choqué par la sexualité. À l’époque grecque ou romaine, on retrouvait beaucoup d’imagerie érotique qui décrivait explicitement l’acte sexuel. On s’en servait pour décorer les bâtiments. La population n’était pas conditionnée à être moralement dérangée par cette imagerie. Aujourd’hui, peut-être à cause de l’héritage judéo-chrétien, on évite ces représentations qu’on associe à de la pornographie. C’est précisément pourquoi j’ai décidé d’illustrer une mythologie inventée, qui utilise des symboles pour exposer, dénoncer ou critiquer la collectivité. Par exemple, dans une de mes toiles, on voit un pape, vêtu du costume traditionnel mais dont la tête est celle d’un coyote. Celui qui est l’incarnation ultime du berger devient alors l’ennemi du troupeau. C’est ce genre de symboles qui me plaisent.
L’analogie de l’instinct et le désir primitif sont plus forts avec des animaux qui nous rappellent nos origines. Mon objectif est en fait de fabriquer un univers propre qui sait mieux que le naturalisme représenter notre réalité. Oscar Wilde disait que la fable est plus réelle que la vérité. C’est précisément ce à quoi je tends quand je peins.
Être. Cette mythologie donne justement un aspect très excessif à l’action érotique que vous illustrez…
M.L. Ça fait aussi partie de ma démarche d’exagérer cette représentation de la sexualité, de la rendre aberrante, dérangeante. Il y a une part de brutalité dans la sexualité. Il y a un jeu où le désir est une forme de violence. Les rapports de force que nous entretenons en société sont aussi présents que dans la vie. Bien souvent ils sont même intensifiés.
Être. Que voulez-vous que vos toiles provoquent chez le spectateur?
M.L. J’ai envie qu’il se remette en question, qu’il soit dérangé par cette vision du monde et qu’elle le pousse à la réflexion. Je n’ai pas peur de provoquer ou de choquer les gens. Mais je ne le fais pas non plus dans ce but.
Être. Justement quelle est votre démarche créative?
M.L. Il y a toujours une idée de base. Généralement une histoire, un rapport de force. J’y réfléchis pendant un certain temps avant de commencer à peindre. Si mon idée de base est trop provocante, elle ne survit généralement pas à mes inspirations. Choquer pour choquer n’est un matériel ni assez puissant ni intéressant pour créer. Cela dit, quand j’arrive devant la toile, je commence à mettre en image mon histoire et il s’ajoute toujours des surprises qui modifient ce que j’envisageais au départ et qui enrichissent l’univers illustré.
Être. Pourquoi est-il important pour vous d’intégrer à la plupart de vos œuvres un pénis en érection? En quoi cette représentation d’un phallus actif est-elle symbolique?
M.L. Il y a selon moi beaucoup à dire avec l’érection. Ça n’aurait pas la même puissance expressive avec un pénis à l’état neutre. Le sexe peut devenir une sorte d’arme. Il indique aussi l’excitation, chose assez ardue à représenter en peinture. Mais comme je l’indiquais précédemment, je ne désire pas peindre une érection pour choquer le public. La représentation de la sexualité est quelque chose de très fort, il faut donc que son utilisation soit justifiée dans ma démarche.
Être. Vous êtes très souvent exposé à la galerie Patrick John Mills, dans la capitale canadienne. Que pensez-vous d’Ottawa?
M.L. Il est certain qu’il s’agit d’une ville assez conservatrice. Comme c’est la capitale, elle se doit de montrer une image «impeccable» du pays. Heureusement, il y a des gens audacieux qui y vivent. Avec Patrick, propriétaire de la Galerie John Mills, j’ai trouvé un complice extraordinaire. Il y a deux ans, il est littéralement tombé amoureux de mon travail. Il expose mes toiles très souvent et, à chaque fois, elles ont du succès. Il ne se gêne pas pour mettre mes toiles en vitrine, même si elles provoquent des réactions dues au caractère explicite du rapport homosexuel. Mais Patrick vit très bien avec la controverse. Ce qui importe pour lui, c’est l’art.
François Bernier, Magazine Être, p.20-21, Vol.16 #6, août 2011, Montréal
Visitez le site du magazine Être ici »
L'Opéra Fabuleux de Mathieu Laca
Chasse à l'Homme/Manhunt, 2010
Rimbaldien
dans l’âme, Mathieu Laca essaye de s’emparer du corps de la peinture à travers
la peinture du corps. Loin de peindre des corps paisibles, il explore les corps
masculins dévastés par le désir.
Un désir primitif, brutal et bestial. La libido jette par-dessus bord les conventions et les règles. Ces corps gouvernés par le sexe et que plus rien ne peut maîtriser sont observés et peints par Laca. Oui Laca, c’est presque Lacan !
À travers des couleurs fortes, des dessins parfaits, des thèmes audacieux et des compositions surréelles, il traverse, avec courage et lucidité, le drame de l’homosexualité.
Il explore sans complexe les phantasmes les plus fous et les accouplements les plus pervers.
En même temps qu’elle fait peur, sa peinture a le mérite d’éveiller l’esprit à des réalités cachées, occultées et censurées.
D’évidence Laca est un grand peintre tant par le contenant que par le contenu de sa peinture.
Les diverses identités dont il est porteur confèrent à sa démarche quelque chose de sublime. L’homme est représenté dans un paradoxe originel : l’ange et le diable, le bien et le mal, le vice et la vertu.
À la fois bestial et divin, l’homme est porteur des plus tragiques et des plus fécondes contradictions : et c’est précisément à ce niveau hautement critique qu’il est sublimé par Laca.
Laca règne en souverain bienheureux dans le royaume des images.
Mustapha Chelbi, critique d'art, écrivain, sociologue de la culture et musicologue, Chevalier de la légion d'honneur et Officier dans l'ordre National du Mérite
Revue Le Forum des Arts Plastiques, p. 9, #6-7, juin-juillet 2011, Les Mureaux, France
Un désir primitif, brutal et bestial. La libido jette par-dessus bord les conventions et les règles. Ces corps gouvernés par le sexe et que plus rien ne peut maîtriser sont observés et peints par Laca. Oui Laca, c’est presque Lacan !
À travers des couleurs fortes, des dessins parfaits, des thèmes audacieux et des compositions surréelles, il traverse, avec courage et lucidité, le drame de l’homosexualité.
Il explore sans complexe les phantasmes les plus fous et les accouplements les plus pervers.
En même temps qu’elle fait peur, sa peinture a le mérite d’éveiller l’esprit à des réalités cachées, occultées et censurées.
D’évidence Laca est un grand peintre tant par le contenant que par le contenu de sa peinture.
Les diverses identités dont il est porteur confèrent à sa démarche quelque chose de sublime. L’homme est représenté dans un paradoxe originel : l’ange et le diable, le bien et le mal, le vice et la vertu.
À la fois bestial et divin, l’homme est porteur des plus tragiques et des plus fécondes contradictions : et c’est précisément à ce niveau hautement critique qu’il est sublimé par Laca.
Laca règne en souverain bienheureux dans le royaume des images.
Mustapha Chelbi, critique d'art, écrivain, sociologue de la culture et musicologue, Chevalier de la légion d'honneur et Officier dans l'ordre National du Mérite
Revue Le Forum des Arts Plastiques, p. 9, #6-7, juin-juillet 2011, Les Mureaux, France
Interview around Oil Spill
Oil Spill, 2010, Collection privée / Private collection
Patrick John Mills: Dear Mathieu, I had a client visit the gallery this
afternoon. He had some questions about one of your painting titled “Oil Spill”.
Why did you use the pelican, rabbit and rooster?
Mathieu Laca: I painted a pelican for the obvious reason that this animal is closely associated with oil spills in the medias. We saw a lot of pelicans getting stuck in oil during the recent Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. It’s the animal that embodies best the role of the victim in our psyche. During the Middle Age, it used to be a symbol of the Christ because people thought that pelicans fed their babies with their own flesh. What I did in this painting is that I inverted our relationship to animals. Instead of being passive creatures, animals take control and inflict their mechanisms of control to human figures. In addition to the pelican, which is a wild animal, I chose to represent a rabbit and a rooster because they are very familiar farm animals that are intensely exploited by humans.
PJM: Why are the figures humans with animal heads? And why are they carrying a human in the background?
ML: The animals have human bodies for the very ground-to-earth reason that I wanted them to perform human actions such as putting gas in someone’s mouth. Even with a lot of imagination, it’s very hard to depict a realistic pelican doing that! In addition to that, I like to paint the male nude very much. I wanted the rabbit and the rooster to acquire a sort of menacing aspect and to recover their wildness. That’s why I chose to represent them bearing a human figure as their prey.
PJM: It was noticed that the male figure does not have an erection... your comments as to why?
ML: The figure in this painting had to be totally passive and controlled and erections are still perceived as dominance.
PJM: The suit and briefcase ... what do they represent?
ML: Conformism, the economy, the pressure on the environment. What leads to oil spills.
PJM: Who is the male figure?
ML: All of us. I hope. He’s the central figure, the one I want us to identify with so we can rethink our relationship to animals and the impact we have on them. I would like, through shock sometimes, that people realize that humans are not at all separate from any other animal species. We must still learn to live together.
PJM: The sky and moon... your comments?
ML: I had great joy painting the sky. I tried to paint it with meanderings such as the Greco. It’s as if the sky reflects suddenly all the inner turmoil of the character lying down. As for the moon or the sun (I didn’t choose to decide which it was), it’s mainly to punctuate the surface and give more nobility to the rooster underneath.
PJM: Why do you splash red and yellow oil on the canvas (or should I say linen)? Why do you always paint on linen?
ML: I splash vivid colors over my paintings to break the representation, to make it come out of its predictable nature, to incorporate spontaneity and randomness. A painting must have its own rules and I should be open enough to discover and accept them. I like to think that a painting whispers to me the directions of its making.
I paint on linen because it’s much more stable and resistant than cotton canvas. I also like its color and the fact that it makes me relate to the tradition of painting. The downside to it is that it’s much more expensive than cotton and that I must make it come from Belgium. For me, there’s a great deal of craft in painting that one must master. That’s why I also grind my own colors. Painting is an intuitive and complex science that builds over time.
Mathieu Laca: I painted a pelican for the obvious reason that this animal is closely associated with oil spills in the medias. We saw a lot of pelicans getting stuck in oil during the recent Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. It’s the animal that embodies best the role of the victim in our psyche. During the Middle Age, it used to be a symbol of the Christ because people thought that pelicans fed their babies with their own flesh. What I did in this painting is that I inverted our relationship to animals. Instead of being passive creatures, animals take control and inflict their mechanisms of control to human figures. In addition to the pelican, which is a wild animal, I chose to represent a rabbit and a rooster because they are very familiar farm animals that are intensely exploited by humans.
PJM: Why are the figures humans with animal heads? And why are they carrying a human in the background?
ML: The animals have human bodies for the very ground-to-earth reason that I wanted them to perform human actions such as putting gas in someone’s mouth. Even with a lot of imagination, it’s very hard to depict a realistic pelican doing that! In addition to that, I like to paint the male nude very much. I wanted the rabbit and the rooster to acquire a sort of menacing aspect and to recover their wildness. That’s why I chose to represent them bearing a human figure as their prey.
PJM: It was noticed that the male figure does not have an erection... your comments as to why?
ML: The figure in this painting had to be totally passive and controlled and erections are still perceived as dominance.
PJM: The suit and briefcase ... what do they represent?
ML: Conformism, the economy, the pressure on the environment. What leads to oil spills.
PJM: Who is the male figure?
ML: All of us. I hope. He’s the central figure, the one I want us to identify with so we can rethink our relationship to animals and the impact we have on them. I would like, through shock sometimes, that people realize that humans are not at all separate from any other animal species. We must still learn to live together.
PJM: The sky and moon... your comments?
ML: I had great joy painting the sky. I tried to paint it with meanderings such as the Greco. It’s as if the sky reflects suddenly all the inner turmoil of the character lying down. As for the moon or the sun (I didn’t choose to decide which it was), it’s mainly to punctuate the surface and give more nobility to the rooster underneath.
PJM: Why do you splash red and yellow oil on the canvas (or should I say linen)? Why do you always paint on linen?
ML: I splash vivid colors over my paintings to break the representation, to make it come out of its predictable nature, to incorporate spontaneity and randomness. A painting must have its own rules and I should be open enough to discover and accept them. I like to think that a painting whispers to me the directions of its making.
I paint on linen because it’s much more stable and resistant than cotton canvas. I also like its color and the fact that it makes me relate to the tradition of painting. The downside to it is that it’s much more expensive than cotton and that I must make it come from Belgium. For me, there’s a great deal of craft in painting that one must master. That’s why I also grind my own colors. Painting is an intuitive and complex science that builds over time.
Deeply Ordered Fantasy
Marine/Seascape, 2011
Mathieu Laca puts vision into his art.
He says that the language of painting isn't made of words but rather it is made of formal elements, "I desire to paint strong images that relate to experiences in our daily lives. This often brings together things that aren't supposed to be together... thereby creating visual poetry. In this way, I create a new way of seeing reality."
This he does by permeating disparate images with tension borne of imagination, "An artist does not work with his rational brain, it's more like free-association with two or three figures and then smaller ones that reinforce. Some of my paintings have animals witnessing scenes. This reinforces strangeness." It also defines Laca's enduring themes of contorted, muscular bodies in tortuous poses, many with mammal, reptile or bird heads.
One large work entitled, Oil Spill, (oil on linen, 153 cm x 122 cm) is a perfect example of Laca's phantasmagorical lyric as a pelican in a suit extinguishes the life of a prostrate, naked, David-type figure while two other muscled nudes with the heads of a rooster and a rabbit, transport another man hanging from a plank by his feet and hands. Whether he will be the next sacrifice to environmental anarchy is left to the viewer's interpretation.
Laca has been painting for 12 years, aware from the age of 17 that he was going to be a painter. His natural ability was recognized in high school by an art teacher who encouraged his expressive drawings and suggested that he work on a project in large scale format, the result of which was his first show at the Maison des Arts de Laval near Montreal before he had finished high school.
When asked where his ideas come from, he is candid, "Painting is like a chain of words, one word leads to another, like wave upon wave. I'm not working with my rational brain when I paint, it's more like free-association. I have ideas that become echoes of other things, things that are striking and original."
Contemporary as his work is, Laca is the quintessential classical painter, well-schooled, working on linen canvas in oil paint, "I take into consideration a body of work but at the same time, I am aware of a variation on themes. I incorporate abstract elements, push it further, using formal rules, position, technique, subject matter...I study tradition in order to break the rules."
He acknowledges the preponderance of female nudes in the panoply of painting and this is one of the reasons he paints male nudes, to increase visibility, to familiarize and to popularize. He adds, "If it shocks a few people but brings something new to a field of exploration in art, this is good."
Shannon Lee Mannion
He says that the language of painting isn't made of words but rather it is made of formal elements, "I desire to paint strong images that relate to experiences in our daily lives. This often brings together things that aren't supposed to be together... thereby creating visual poetry. In this way, I create a new way of seeing reality."
This he does by permeating disparate images with tension borne of imagination, "An artist does not work with his rational brain, it's more like free-association with two or three figures and then smaller ones that reinforce. Some of my paintings have animals witnessing scenes. This reinforces strangeness." It also defines Laca's enduring themes of contorted, muscular bodies in tortuous poses, many with mammal, reptile or bird heads.
One large work entitled, Oil Spill, (oil on linen, 153 cm x 122 cm) is a perfect example of Laca's phantasmagorical lyric as a pelican in a suit extinguishes the life of a prostrate, naked, David-type figure while two other muscled nudes with the heads of a rooster and a rabbit, transport another man hanging from a plank by his feet and hands. Whether he will be the next sacrifice to environmental anarchy is left to the viewer's interpretation.
Laca has been painting for 12 years, aware from the age of 17 that he was going to be a painter. His natural ability was recognized in high school by an art teacher who encouraged his expressive drawings and suggested that he work on a project in large scale format, the result of which was his first show at the Maison des Arts de Laval near Montreal before he had finished high school.
When asked where his ideas come from, he is candid, "Painting is like a chain of words, one word leads to another, like wave upon wave. I'm not working with my rational brain when I paint, it's more like free-association. I have ideas that become echoes of other things, things that are striking and original."
Contemporary as his work is, Laca is the quintessential classical painter, well-schooled, working on linen canvas in oil paint, "I take into consideration a body of work but at the same time, I am aware of a variation on themes. I incorporate abstract elements, push it further, using formal rules, position, technique, subject matter...I study tradition in order to break the rules."
He acknowledges the preponderance of female nudes in the panoply of painting and this is one of the reasons he paints male nudes, to increase visibility, to familiarize and to popularize. He adds, "If it shocks a few people but brings something new to a field of exploration in art, this is good."
Shannon Lee Mannion
Interview with the "ArtBookGuy" Michael K. Corbin
Salomé, 2009
Mathieu Laca is one of those artists who make you wonder. You look at his work and ask, "What on earth is this guy thinking?" He's definitely a bold and daring artist who follows his own, perhaps controversial vision. It's what art is all about. Given that, I decided I had to contact him. What I found is a super-intelligent and very insightful guy who cuts to the chase. Read on and see for yourself.
MICHAEL: Hello Mathieu, How are things in Montreal? I have to say that your work is wild! To me, your paintings are giant murals of crazy dreams one might have at night ... dreams that make you wake up and wonder, "What was that?" You're quite a visionary.
MATHIEU: Hello Michael! Things are great in Montreal! I'm very busy right now. You are totally right with your question about dreams and their unexplainable language. I believe that dreams inform us and spare us at the same time. They're tricky! They speak of inner truths that for some reason we can't face directly. So they veil themselves, they wear masks, allowing us to tame them, to live with them without feeling threatened. This is why a lot of works, based solely on imagination, I find, bear more reality than works only mimicking the surface of things around us.
The unexplainable often creates strong esthetic emotions. This is why I make such a use of it in my works. With so much going on the canvas, I'm often asked about the narratives of my paintings. Is there a predetermined story line? What's the message?
MICHAEL: Yes, what is the message?
MATHIEU: It's embarrassing to say in words what I have strived for years to say with images! It's a bit as if I was disarming my own artistic grenade! Well, that's how I feel. The easy answer would be: Look, it's all in the work! But very few people are satisfied with that. A work of art must almost build a kind of cocoon made of words in order to be more digestible. That's where you come in!
MICHAEL: Yeah, but my words are only MY interpretation. Your thoughts are what matter most to me.
MATHIEU: When I start to think about a painting, I always have a very strong feeling about it. The problem is that usually the idea is also very vague. What I do when I sketch is that I dissipate the smoke, I cut the surplus, I add to the dynamics of the composition, etc. To be perfectly clear, I discover the work as I go along. To be an artist, one has to be very curious I believe. I always want to see where it's leading me! Can't wait, that's why I do it over and over again. So there's really no predetermined story. Sometimes the result is a shock. It has nothing to do with the initial jumping-off point. But something unexplainable endures ... this irrepressible feeling, this desire that reveals itself, but isn't given away.
MICHAEL: Hello Mathieu, How are things in Montreal? I have to say that your work is wild! To me, your paintings are giant murals of crazy dreams one might have at night ... dreams that make you wake up and wonder, "What was that?" You're quite a visionary.
MATHIEU: Hello Michael! Things are great in Montreal! I'm very busy right now. You are totally right with your question about dreams and their unexplainable language. I believe that dreams inform us and spare us at the same time. They're tricky! They speak of inner truths that for some reason we can't face directly. So they veil themselves, they wear masks, allowing us to tame them, to live with them without feeling threatened. This is why a lot of works, based solely on imagination, I find, bear more reality than works only mimicking the surface of things around us.
The unexplainable often creates strong esthetic emotions. This is why I make such a use of it in my works. With so much going on the canvas, I'm often asked about the narratives of my paintings. Is there a predetermined story line? What's the message?
MICHAEL: Yes, what is the message?
MATHIEU: It's embarrassing to say in words what I have strived for years to say with images! It's a bit as if I was disarming my own artistic grenade! Well, that's how I feel. The easy answer would be: Look, it's all in the work! But very few people are satisfied with that. A work of art must almost build a kind of cocoon made of words in order to be more digestible. That's where you come in!
MICHAEL: Yeah, but my words are only MY interpretation. Your thoughts are what matter most to me.
MATHIEU: When I start to think about a painting, I always have a very strong feeling about it. The problem is that usually the idea is also very vague. What I do when I sketch is that I dissipate the smoke, I cut the surplus, I add to the dynamics of the composition, etc. To be perfectly clear, I discover the work as I go along. To be an artist, one has to be very curious I believe. I always want to see where it's leading me! Can't wait, that's why I do it over and over again. So there's really no predetermined story. Sometimes the result is a shock. It has nothing to do with the initial jumping-off point. But something unexplainable endures ... this irrepressible feeling, this desire that reveals itself, but isn't given away.
Éveil/Awakeing, 2009
MICHAEL:
Your work seems to be fearless in that you're clearly not afraid of
what to put on canvas. I think that if we can work past this fear of
judgment, we can really get to the core of creativity, if not genius. My
guess is that it would be so easy for you to paint nature landscapes
(not that there's anything wrong with that), but you're actually doing
what seems "natural" to you?
MATHIEU: You're right. I'm not afraid of anything. I'm not afraid to paint fully erect male bodies. I'm not afraid to paint masturbations or ejaculations. All these things appeal to me so I paint them. Moreover, I glorify them by constructing large life-size visual altars for them. I'm also not afraid to show religious symbols in irreverent ways. There are so many things in this world that haven't been painted before. I don't want to restrain myself from representing anything. I once heard a prominent painter saying, "I don't paint nude figures because that's too commercial." That shocked me! How can a true artist say, "I will disregard what has made the fortune of the Renaissance, the purest image of mankind... because it's too commercial"? I came to think that it doesn't really matter what you paint. You just have to paint interestingly, according to your own vision. But you're right when you say that the bravado is an intrinsic part of what I do. It's part of my virgin gaze, uncorrupted by commercial standpoints.
MICHAEL: Clearly your work is not for the faint of heart. What kind of feedback do you get? Do people buy some of your large murals? I don't see them hanging in a bank or hotel lobby.
MATHIEU: I wouldn't see Guernica hanging in a bank either. That would scare the investors and maybe the bank robbers too! You see, for a painting to be decorative, it has to be toned down a little, muted, in order to blend itself more easily into the environment. My paintings are everything but toned down. They are punchy, bold, one could even say aggressive. I want them to make strong impact, even if that means being repulsive to some people.
MICHAEL: Doesn't that mean many potential collectors would be frightened away?
MATHIEU: I haven't sold any of the large ones you're referring to yet. But the response has been tremendously surprising. My studio is a high-ceiling converted garage next to the house. One day, we had some workers doing a job on the driveway. One of them saw what I was painting passing by the window. He was struck. He asked me if he could come in during his break and until then he seemed totally absent-minded, as if he had been stuck by lightning. When he stepped into the studio, he was delighted. He stood still for a minute before speaking, processing what he was seeing. Then he said as he pointed out, "There is everything in there. Joy, pain, hope and despair ... all of human experience. Every epoch is represented." He smiled at some detail and asked me why I had put it in. Then he went outside and invited his fellow workers "to the museum!" It was an unexpected and wonderful experience. This is why I paint.
MICHAEL: Did he buy the painting?
MATHIEU: This guy can't afford the painting he saw. But this work made a hell of an impact on him. It exists in his mind almost in a supernatural way. It was a source of visual delight as well as a source of reflection. What strikes people about my paintings are the vivid colors. It draws their attention first. Then it's the deployment of my imagination, the action that's represented. And then people relate to specific details, they try to make sense out of it. For example, in front of a painting of mine where there were abstract brush strokes coming out of a furious dog, this guy, a dog trainer, told me that he saw all the bad behaviors expelled from the dog. I smiled.
MATHIEU: You're right. I'm not afraid of anything. I'm not afraid to paint fully erect male bodies. I'm not afraid to paint masturbations or ejaculations. All these things appeal to me so I paint them. Moreover, I glorify them by constructing large life-size visual altars for them. I'm also not afraid to show religious symbols in irreverent ways. There are so many things in this world that haven't been painted before. I don't want to restrain myself from representing anything. I once heard a prominent painter saying, "I don't paint nude figures because that's too commercial." That shocked me! How can a true artist say, "I will disregard what has made the fortune of the Renaissance, the purest image of mankind... because it's too commercial"? I came to think that it doesn't really matter what you paint. You just have to paint interestingly, according to your own vision. But you're right when you say that the bravado is an intrinsic part of what I do. It's part of my virgin gaze, uncorrupted by commercial standpoints.
MICHAEL: Clearly your work is not for the faint of heart. What kind of feedback do you get? Do people buy some of your large murals? I don't see them hanging in a bank or hotel lobby.
MATHIEU: I wouldn't see Guernica hanging in a bank either. That would scare the investors and maybe the bank robbers too! You see, for a painting to be decorative, it has to be toned down a little, muted, in order to blend itself more easily into the environment. My paintings are everything but toned down. They are punchy, bold, one could even say aggressive. I want them to make strong impact, even if that means being repulsive to some people.
MICHAEL: Doesn't that mean many potential collectors would be frightened away?
MATHIEU: I haven't sold any of the large ones you're referring to yet. But the response has been tremendously surprising. My studio is a high-ceiling converted garage next to the house. One day, we had some workers doing a job on the driveway. One of them saw what I was painting passing by the window. He was struck. He asked me if he could come in during his break and until then he seemed totally absent-minded, as if he had been stuck by lightning. When he stepped into the studio, he was delighted. He stood still for a minute before speaking, processing what he was seeing. Then he said as he pointed out, "There is everything in there. Joy, pain, hope and despair ... all of human experience. Every epoch is represented." He smiled at some detail and asked me why I had put it in. Then he went outside and invited his fellow workers "to the museum!" It was an unexpected and wonderful experience. This is why I paint.
MICHAEL: Did he buy the painting?
MATHIEU: This guy can't afford the painting he saw. But this work made a hell of an impact on him. It exists in his mind almost in a supernatural way. It was a source of visual delight as well as a source of reflection. What strikes people about my paintings are the vivid colors. It draws their attention first. Then it's the deployment of my imagination, the action that's represented. And then people relate to specific details, they try to make sense out of it. For example, in front of a painting of mine where there were abstract brush strokes coming out of a furious dog, this guy, a dog trainer, told me that he saw all the bad behaviors expelled from the dog. I smiled.
Himmel / Heaven, 2009
MICHAEL: Why did you smile? What were you thinking?
MATHIEU: I want to make paintings that reveal to the viewer something unknown about himself. For that reason, I shake him up sometimes. But I tell myself ... if an older lady whose part of a church choir can email me from Germany to tell me that my work has touched her, well that gives me great confidence that my art will take its just place in the world. I stay convinced that most people are sensitive and smart when art is presented to them in a true and honest way, without scholarly bullshit.
MICHAEL: You know, there really seems to be two art worlds: the one I read about in art magazines and see at international art fairs and the one I see through artists like you. I feel closer to the truth with actual artists. The other art world, although fun, seems like smoke and mirrors to me.
MATHIEU: I don't have extensive experience with the art market, but I think it's very similar to what I experienced at the university doing my degree in fine arts. Everyone there was struggling to get the attention. The competition was ferocious. For example, for the undergraduate show, the jury chose the work of a guy who works in the student coffee shop, the guy who stands forward, comments on every topic, knows everybody and looks nice. His work was chosen among works of equal quality or even a little better. The very shy girl had little chance to be chosen even if her work was great. For one thing, it's very difficult to agree on what's great and what's not. Secondly, it's harder to reject someone when you know you'll see him every morning pouring coffee inside your cup!
MICHAEL: Yes, social networking sometimes trumps talent.
MATHIEU: So juries tend to eliminate works that ring no bell. Being unnoticed is fatal. That's part of the smoke and the mirrors you were pointing out. I think that, on a bigger scale, the same thing goes on in the art world. A lot of energy is spent on making a good impression. One of the tools used in that respect is what I call, "scholarly bullshit." There are a couple of clichés that always pop up when we talk about contemporary art. For instance, the dichotomy of the public and the private space or the questioning of the consumer society. These ideas are repeated ad nauseam in art schools and supply the basic material for theoretical abstruseness.
MICHAEL: Uh yeah ... what does that even mean?
MATHIEU: When I was in school, since I was a French-speaking student in an English-speaking establishment, I just had to drop a couple of quotes by some obscure French philosopher in my artist statement and I automatically had the consideration of the professor and the other students were at my knees. I have stopped a long time ago using those cheap tricks. I know that my calling is more profound than that ... more serious!
MICHAEL: You're cracking me up. You're certainly speaking the truth. As you know, talent isn't the only element of success. I've met quite a few very talented artists who don't seem to have much drive or willingness to work hard. You can see how they probably won't become successful ... at least by conventional standards. I've come to realize that everyone really has to define success for themselves and figure out how to get there. Our choices are really the things that make us different and whether someone becomes a "slouch" or "sell out," is their choice and they have to live with the consequences.
MATHIEU: You're making me think a lot. I never really thought about success in clear terms. When I began to paint seriously, at the age of 17, I even thought there was something appealing in a tragic Van Gogh-like destiny. Until very recently, I was completely immersed in the search for my voice. I wanted to find something, to discover new venues of expression, to develop a unique language. The rest was of no significance. I even once turned down a major show because the works I was supposed to present didn't correspond to where I wanted to go next, they were of my "old manner" sort of speak. I didn't want to have success and be admired for something that didn't represent me fully.
MATHIEU: I want to make paintings that reveal to the viewer something unknown about himself. For that reason, I shake him up sometimes. But I tell myself ... if an older lady whose part of a church choir can email me from Germany to tell me that my work has touched her, well that gives me great confidence that my art will take its just place in the world. I stay convinced that most people are sensitive and smart when art is presented to them in a true and honest way, without scholarly bullshit.
MICHAEL: You know, there really seems to be two art worlds: the one I read about in art magazines and see at international art fairs and the one I see through artists like you. I feel closer to the truth with actual artists. The other art world, although fun, seems like smoke and mirrors to me.
MATHIEU: I don't have extensive experience with the art market, but I think it's very similar to what I experienced at the university doing my degree in fine arts. Everyone there was struggling to get the attention. The competition was ferocious. For example, for the undergraduate show, the jury chose the work of a guy who works in the student coffee shop, the guy who stands forward, comments on every topic, knows everybody and looks nice. His work was chosen among works of equal quality or even a little better. The very shy girl had little chance to be chosen even if her work was great. For one thing, it's very difficult to agree on what's great and what's not. Secondly, it's harder to reject someone when you know you'll see him every morning pouring coffee inside your cup!
MICHAEL: Yes, social networking sometimes trumps talent.
MATHIEU: So juries tend to eliminate works that ring no bell. Being unnoticed is fatal. That's part of the smoke and the mirrors you were pointing out. I think that, on a bigger scale, the same thing goes on in the art world. A lot of energy is spent on making a good impression. One of the tools used in that respect is what I call, "scholarly bullshit." There are a couple of clichés that always pop up when we talk about contemporary art. For instance, the dichotomy of the public and the private space or the questioning of the consumer society. These ideas are repeated ad nauseam in art schools and supply the basic material for theoretical abstruseness.
MICHAEL: Uh yeah ... what does that even mean?
MATHIEU: When I was in school, since I was a French-speaking student in an English-speaking establishment, I just had to drop a couple of quotes by some obscure French philosopher in my artist statement and I automatically had the consideration of the professor and the other students were at my knees. I have stopped a long time ago using those cheap tricks. I know that my calling is more profound than that ... more serious!
MICHAEL: You're cracking me up. You're certainly speaking the truth. As you know, talent isn't the only element of success. I've met quite a few very talented artists who don't seem to have much drive or willingness to work hard. You can see how they probably won't become successful ... at least by conventional standards. I've come to realize that everyone really has to define success for themselves and figure out how to get there. Our choices are really the things that make us different and whether someone becomes a "slouch" or "sell out," is their choice and they have to live with the consequences.
MATHIEU: You're making me think a lot. I never really thought about success in clear terms. When I began to paint seriously, at the age of 17, I even thought there was something appealing in a tragic Van Gogh-like destiny. Until very recently, I was completely immersed in the search for my voice. I wanted to find something, to discover new venues of expression, to develop a unique language. The rest was of no significance. I even once turned down a major show because the works I was supposed to present didn't correspond to where I wanted to go next, they were of my "old manner" sort of speak. I didn't want to have success and be admired for something that didn't represent me fully.
Alter Ego, 2008
MICHAEL: Wow, it sounds like you knew yourself very early on.
MATHIEU: I still see art galleries a bit like traps. I see many artists who are represented by galleries and seem to paint the same picture over and over again. They stopped evolving. It's so boring! It's as if a work is worthless if it isn't immediately recognizable by everyone. I feel sometimes that to be part of a gallery, one almost has to become a brand name.
MICHAEL: Totally. That seems to be the rule if you want to be "successful."
MATHIEU: I truly think that I am successful already. I have a group of fans. I sell paintings occasionally although selling is not a priority. Having my works valued is. You see, I have the ability of not having to worry about my bread and butter. I'm not rich, but I have a wonderful husband who supports me and helps me so I can paint every day. For that reason, I never asked the government for any grants or loans. I know that most artists are much more in need of it than I am and I consider myself privileged. That's why I try to make good use of what I have and as you said, success is something you have to work on, it doesn't just happen mysteriously overnight. Having more shows would be great. A great accomplishment for me also would be to have a solo exhibition in another country.
I also know that success often comes with strings attached. It's not always a pure blessing. And where does ambition end? I know a painter who is very famous here and I see what he does to captivate people. I could do the same, but I won't. As you said, I want to define success for myself, a success that suits me and in which I'm comfortable. There are things that I won't sacrifice for it. I prefer to be free and virtually unknown than to be famous for making crap!
MICHAEL: I can point out the works of some very successful artists who've taken their unique style and raised it to the level of a "brand." I must say I love their work, but as you've said, they're not the only artists out there. As we wrap up here, how would you say that Canada and/or Montreal fit into the world contemporary art scene? You know, that part of the world is very quiet and perhaps overlooked from my perspective.
MATHIEU: It's true that the art from the province of Quebec and its main city Montreal doesn't travel very far. Because most people here speak French, the language may be a barrier. There isn't a lot of cultural exchange with the rest of Canada either. Culturally, I think Quebec is a microcosm, a mix between European and American sensitivity. That makes it separate, but that also makes it unique and interesting. The problem is, we are not different enough to be exotic and yet too different not to raise a little suspicion. That's a shame because we are a nation of creators. What else can we do trapped in snow several months a year? I'm sure that there are more artists per square kilometer on the island of Montreal than anywhere else on the planet. The thing is ... we all breathe the same air since the art market is very small here. I think we have a lot to learn from each other. Art is a great way to exchange our views of this world. I hope the art from Quebec and Canada will get more attention from the rest of the planet in the future. There are great talents here that, if you dare to be curious, are sure to rock your world. For example, a show with my works and works by Attila Richard Lukacs and Photograph Evergon ... that would surely make some waves! Je suis sûr que beaucoup d'américains avaleraient leur langue!
MICHAEL: What does that mean?
MATHIEU: It means, "I'm sure that a lot of Americans would swallow their tongue!"
MICHAEL: I notice that you use your own image in your work. This isn't unusual. Many artists have done it. Why do you do it? Is it part of the whole personal dream thing?
MATHIEU: There are a few very down-to-earth reasons why I do it. I'm always available, I'm cheaper than a professional model and usually have a good idea of the pose I'm interested in. I also consider my body to be standard-looking so that makes it very versatile. I think that every work of art, in a way, is a self-portrait of its author. So it seems only natural to me to use my own image. When I paint, I also want to discover something about myself. I want to surprise myself and to engage myself in the process. Using my body allows me to become a character in my own personal drama, to reflect upon myself. Painting is very much like keeping a journal. Moreover, I find that to represent myself in a painting is like winking at the viewer. It's very witty. It's just like when you see Hitchcock appearing in one of his movies. It's a signature without writing.
MICHAEL: Well, this has been a very enlightening chat. Thanks Mathieu. Much future success to you.
You can find out more about the "ArtBookGuy" by checking out his website at ArtBookGuy.com
MATHIEU: I still see art galleries a bit like traps. I see many artists who are represented by galleries and seem to paint the same picture over and over again. They stopped evolving. It's so boring! It's as if a work is worthless if it isn't immediately recognizable by everyone. I feel sometimes that to be part of a gallery, one almost has to become a brand name.
MICHAEL: Totally. That seems to be the rule if you want to be "successful."
MATHIEU: I truly think that I am successful already. I have a group of fans. I sell paintings occasionally although selling is not a priority. Having my works valued is. You see, I have the ability of not having to worry about my bread and butter. I'm not rich, but I have a wonderful husband who supports me and helps me so I can paint every day. For that reason, I never asked the government for any grants or loans. I know that most artists are much more in need of it than I am and I consider myself privileged. That's why I try to make good use of what I have and as you said, success is something you have to work on, it doesn't just happen mysteriously overnight. Having more shows would be great. A great accomplishment for me also would be to have a solo exhibition in another country.
I also know that success often comes with strings attached. It's not always a pure blessing. And where does ambition end? I know a painter who is very famous here and I see what he does to captivate people. I could do the same, but I won't. As you said, I want to define success for myself, a success that suits me and in which I'm comfortable. There are things that I won't sacrifice for it. I prefer to be free and virtually unknown than to be famous for making crap!
MICHAEL: I can point out the works of some very successful artists who've taken their unique style and raised it to the level of a "brand." I must say I love their work, but as you've said, they're not the only artists out there. As we wrap up here, how would you say that Canada and/or Montreal fit into the world contemporary art scene? You know, that part of the world is very quiet and perhaps overlooked from my perspective.
MATHIEU: It's true that the art from the province of Quebec and its main city Montreal doesn't travel very far. Because most people here speak French, the language may be a barrier. There isn't a lot of cultural exchange with the rest of Canada either. Culturally, I think Quebec is a microcosm, a mix between European and American sensitivity. That makes it separate, but that also makes it unique and interesting. The problem is, we are not different enough to be exotic and yet too different not to raise a little suspicion. That's a shame because we are a nation of creators. What else can we do trapped in snow several months a year? I'm sure that there are more artists per square kilometer on the island of Montreal than anywhere else on the planet. The thing is ... we all breathe the same air since the art market is very small here. I think we have a lot to learn from each other. Art is a great way to exchange our views of this world. I hope the art from Quebec and Canada will get more attention from the rest of the planet in the future. There are great talents here that, if you dare to be curious, are sure to rock your world. For example, a show with my works and works by Attila Richard Lukacs and Photograph Evergon ... that would surely make some waves! Je suis sûr que beaucoup d'américains avaleraient leur langue!
MICHAEL: What does that mean?
MATHIEU: It means, "I'm sure that a lot of Americans would swallow their tongue!"
MICHAEL: I notice that you use your own image in your work. This isn't unusual. Many artists have done it. Why do you do it? Is it part of the whole personal dream thing?
MATHIEU: There are a few very down-to-earth reasons why I do it. I'm always available, I'm cheaper than a professional model and usually have a good idea of the pose I'm interested in. I also consider my body to be standard-looking so that makes it very versatile. I think that every work of art, in a way, is a self-portrait of its author. So it seems only natural to me to use my own image. When I paint, I also want to discover something about myself. I want to surprise myself and to engage myself in the process. Using my body allows me to become a character in my own personal drama, to reflect upon myself. Painting is very much like keeping a journal. Moreover, I find that to represent myself in a painting is like winking at the viewer. It's very witty. It's just like when you see Hitchcock appearing in one of his movies. It's a signature without writing.
MICHAEL: Well, this has been a very enlightening chat. Thanks Mathieu. Much future success to you.
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