Art Is All Around Us
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A-97-33
Marcel Barbeau (Canadian, 1925–2016) Kenoza, 1989 Acrylic on Linen 137 x 182.88 cm Collection of the Art Gallery of Algoma; Gift of Jacqueline Brien |
Marcel Barbeau (1925-2016 | Canadian)
Barbeau, born in 1925 in Montreal, was an abstract expressionist and an action painting artist who challenged and changed the perception, role, and understanding of art in Quebec and Canada. At young age, he met artist Paul-Émile Borduas, who had great influence on him. Borduas started making spontaneous gestural works based on the “automatic drawing” practice of some European Surrealists. In 1947, Barbeau and others in Borduas’s group exhibited at the Galerie du Luxembourg in Paris, under the title Les Automatistes. Following the success in Paris the group launched Refus global in 1948 challenging Quebec society for its lack of artistic and educational freedom. Refus global “wasn’t so much an act of courage, as a necessity,” Barbeau recalled in 1998. “It was the need to breathe, in a social structure that was very closed.”
Barbeau was an artist whose work has taken a variety of directions throughout his career. He remained loyal to the idea of spontaneous expressions while still exploring various styles within his works; at times exploring geometric forms, other times hard edge and contrasting colours, but returning once again to his familiar free form style. The AGA is extremely fortunate to have four of his paintings in the permanent collection including this one.
Barbeau, born in 1925 in Montreal, was an abstract expressionist and an action painting artist who challenged and changed the perception, role, and understanding of art in Quebec and Canada. At young age, he met artist Paul-Émile Borduas, who had great influence on him. Borduas started making spontaneous gestural works based on the “automatic drawing” practice of some European Surrealists. In 1947, Barbeau and others in Borduas’s group exhibited at the Galerie du Luxembourg in Paris, under the title Les Automatistes. Following the success in Paris the group launched Refus global in 1948 challenging Quebec society for its lack of artistic and educational freedom. Refus global “wasn’t so much an act of courage, as a necessity,” Barbeau recalled in 1998. “It was the need to breathe, in a social structure that was very closed.”
Barbeau was an artist whose work has taken a variety of directions throughout his career. He remained loyal to the idea of spontaneous expressions while still exploring various styles within his works; at times exploring geometric forms, other times hard edge and contrasting colours, but returning once again to his familiar free form style. The AGA is extremely fortunate to have four of his paintings in the permanent collection including this one.
