Cuadro

Pierre Durette’s layered works are laden with a multitude of narratives, from the mundane to the heroic and lofty. Numerous stories are woven into one, giving them the effect of contemporary frescoes or tapestries. Scenes of daily life, war, hunting, wildlife, botany, even architecture from across the centuries, all coalesce into singular works.

Unlike their ancient and classical predecessors, Durette’s white canvases are not limited to paying tribute to one person or event. Rather, they seem to be an encyclopedic tribute, comprehensively glorifying history and civilization, all the while commenting on the chaotic disorder that comes from viewing a fragment of history, atemporal and disjointed from time.

Created using successive layers of acrylic coating with glaze, the multiple strata lend the paintings a physical weight. The artist often interjects color in the same manner he introduces his characters – indiscriminately yet with an eye towards contributing to the work as a whole. The characters, reminiscent of models or figurines, instantly evoke ancient monuments and tablets, such as Trajan’s Column in Rome, or the Bayeux Tapestry with the interwoven ingenuity of its storytelling skill.

Pierre Durette (1980) was born in Québec’s Matapédia Valley. He carries a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Université du Québec á Montréal. He has taken part in residencies at the University of Wales Institute in Cardiff, England, and at the Martha Studio Street Printmaking Studio in Winnipeg, Manitoba. His work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows, including the International Biennial of Miniature Prints and the Art On Paper Biennale, and will be in this year’s International Printmakers Biennial in Trois-Rivières. He has received numerous awards and grants, including the Albert Dumouchel Prize, the Mcabbie Foundation’s Excellence Grant for etching, the Marcel-Bellerive Excellence Grant for painting, the International Festival of Montreal in Art’s Excellence Grant, the Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Québec’s Research and Creation Grant and Travel Grant, the Canada Council for the Arts Travel Grant. Pierre Durette’s work is in significant international collections, including the Québec National Museum of Fine Arts, the Colart Collection, the National Bank, BMO Financial Group, the Encana Corporation, Atelier Graff, and the Québec Printmaker’s Council.