Discover the work of Alexis Lavoie, whose first solo exhibition at the gallery dates back to 2014. Excerpts taken from "Theatres of Ruin" wrote by art historian Philippe Dumaine for the catalog «Alexis Lavoie, Une décennie de peinture» (Éditions Simon Blais, 2019).
"Box-like rooms with landscapes, celebrations with crackling fireworks, bodies and skin, Alexis Lavoie’s oeuvre points out the effects of the excess, absurdity, innocence and sorrow that make up our times."
En pièces (25)
"Lavoie builds box-like rooms right on the canvas, scattering ad-hoc elements within them. (…) While they immediately call upon a vocabulary of ruin through the run-down, ramshackle appearance of the objects and architectural fragments in them, it is difficult to tell whether they refer to the past, present or future – or even to dreams. Are these images remembrances of better days, or premonitions of a dystopian future?"
En pièces (25), 2013, oil on canvas, 122 x 122 cm (48 x 48 in). $2700
Piñata (bleu)
"Explosions are one of the recurring motifs in Alexis Lavoie’s work. In it nuclear mushroom clouds and fireworks rumble, while graphic elements are scattered over numerous paintings. (…) The coexistence of such images makes such series powerful oxymorons, respectively bringing to mind life and death, celebration and tragedy. From rapture to despair, Alexis Lavoie’s arrangements create lines of tension."
Piñata (bleu), 2013, oil on canvas, 122 x 122 cm (48 x 48 in). $2700
Surface
"In the case of Surface, Lavoie relies on the material of canvas, which becomes equated with the epidermis. First painting an area of skin, he then divides up the canvas, scans it and makes a large-format print of the result. The final digital print therefore appears blurred, the rough patches, crinkles and cracks of the paint creating an impression of a distressed membrane."
- Philippe Dumaine
Surface (1), 2017, inkjet print on paper, edition 2/3, 139.7 x 153.04 cm (55 x 60.25 in) . $2200
