Denis Larouche AOCA
(Alumnus of the Ontario College of Art & Design)
"... as though to let him know that creation was only
the product of a dance of atoms ...”
Umberto Eco, The Island of the Day Before.
"The Sky and the Earth are as old as I am,
and the thousands of things are one."
Zhuang Zi, circa 300 B.C.
"If the doors of perception were cleansed
everything would appear to man as it is, infinite"
William Blake
Artistic intent
In the process of deconstructing and reconstructing matter and space, how many ways can the artist interpret a sky, water, or the earth? Because its very nature implies change, we accept the many identities assumed by our environment, while our own tendency towards organization makes us look for and find structure in it.
It is estimated that barely 10% of what we "see" is really caught by our eyes. The remaining 90% is a construction of our brain, using information from past experiences to fill in the rest. Our mind groups and organizes these various elements. In this deconstructed space that our environment, a single symbolic element defines it and gives it meaning. A familiar form is enough for us to reconstruct a landscape. It all comes down to our perception, and acceptance of these painted shapes.
Since 2008
I am fascinated by the idea, in physics, that light, matter and energy can be one and the same. That they originate from a single source. This concept influences the way I see the world and the way I paint
Because at the level of nuclear particles there is no real difference between solid, liquid and gas, between a tree and a man, the notion of distinct physical entity loses its meaning. Water, air and earth are made of the same elements and there is no clear separation, “…only a dance of atoms…” In this way, the object-subject becomes a point of reference. But it only defines the space surrounding it, giving it meaning. The treatment of this space becomes a search in itself. An interrogation on the nature of Matter, and the structure of what we call Landscape.
One may wonder about including Quantic equations into a painting. Put physics being a way of seeing and describing the world - though a much more precise and measured one - these two disciplines really are complementary. These equations are like these Arab, Chinese or Japanese calligraphies that we appreciate for there elegance and fluidity, though we may not always understand their significance.
It is not a study of the structure of matter, but a reflection on this structure, on this discovery by science that all things are one and proceed from the same source.
As the artist pursues his deconstruction of space, the viewer is invited to become aware of his own reconstruction process, of this Gestalt bridging the gap between the artist and the viewer.
Denis Larouche A.O.C.A.
Gatineau (Hull), Qc. 2011
Birth: 1956- Ville-Marie, Québec
Residence: Québec, Canada
1982 – 86 Fine Arts, Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto, Ontario
1976 – 79 Museum Artwork and Display, Algonquin College, Ottawa, Ontario
1974 – 75 Design, Algonquin College, Ottawa, Ontario
2009 Old Chelsea Gallery, Recent Works, Old Chelsea, Quebec
2009 Rothwell Gallery, Recent Works, Ottawa, Ontario
2008 AvenueArt Gallery, “Sea & Sky - Superposing the Elements”, Montreal, Quebec
2007 Lake Leamy Casino, “Growth”, Promenade du Roi, Gatineau, Quebec
2006 Centre Carmen, Bellehumeur ST, Gatineau, Quebec
2005 AvenueArt Gallery, “Landscapes and Textures”, joint exhibition with Anthony Hobbs, Montreal, Quebec
2003 Centerpointe Theatre Gallery, “Transitions”, Ottawa, Ontario
2003 Marchant Gallery, “Painting the Seasons”, Ontario
2000 Bowater Library, “The Trees of Brewery Creek”, Gatineau, Quebec
2000 Thâtre de l’Île, “Hull’s Brewery Creek”, Hull, Quebec
2010 Arta Gallery, Gallery Artist Group Exhibition, Toronto, Ontario
2010 Agnes Jamieson Gallery, Minden Cultural Center, juried Canadian landscape exhibition, Minden, Ontario
2009 Arta Gallery, “Light of Winter”, Distillery District, Toronto, Ontario
2009 Cube Gallery, “Water”, Ottawa, Ontario
2008 Cube Gallery, “Homage”, Ottawa, Ontario
2007 AvenueArt Gallery, Landscape 2007, Interpretations of the Canadian Landscape, Montreal, Quebec
2007 Carleton University Field House, “Ottawa Art Festival”, Ottawa, Ontario
2007 AvenueArt Gallery, Grand opening, Montreal, Quebec
2006 Cube Gallery, “Great Big Small II”, Ottawa, Ontario
2006 Art Tao Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2006 AvenueArt Gallery, Annual Spring Group Exhibition, Montreal, Quebec
2006 Lady Aberdeen Pavilion, “Ottawa Art Festival”, Landsdowne Park, Ottawa, Ontario
2006 Cube Gallery, “Campestral, the Canadian Landscape”, Ottawa, Ontario
2005 Cube Gallery, “Great Big Smalls Show”, Ottawa, Ontario
2005 Centre Culturel Jacques-Auger, Contemporary Impressionism, Gatineau, Quebec
2005 Montcalm Gallery, Loto-Québec Exhibition, Gatineau, Quebec
2004 AvenueArt Gallery, “Deck the Walls”, Montreal, Quebec
2003 National Archives of Canada Building, “Energy and Creation” organized by SAVO, Gatineau, Quebec
2002 Galerie Art-Inter, “Visages de l’Outaouais”, Sherbrooke, Quebec
2002 Espace Pierre-Debain, Centre Culturel du Vieux-Aylmer, 28 Artistes, Aylmer, Quebec
2001 – 2005 Elmwood Art and Home Fair, Rockliffe, Ontario
2001 Théâtre de l’Île, “Bicentennial Memories”, commemoration of the city’s architectural heritage
2000 – 2004 Aylmer Arts Council, spring exhibition
1999 – 2000 Art in the Outaouais, Hull, Quebec
2001 “Les Fêtes du Grand Boulevard”, Hull, Quebec
2000 The Fainting Couch Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario
1980 Design and fabrication of dioramas and scale models, mannequins, moulding and casting, artifact replicas, artifact andbackground paintings for major institutions such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Canadian Museum of Nature, Parks Canada, the Canadian Conservation Institute, the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Currency Museum.
2010 Culturiades, FALCO (Foundation for the Arts, Literature and Culture in the Outaouais), Finalist, Gilles Gagné Excellence Award
2007 Registration bursary to participate in Visual Arts Summit, Ottawa, Ontario
2006 Culturiades, finalist, selection of a work of art for the “Homage Award - City of Gatineau”
1999 Art in the Outaouais, Jury's Honourable Mention, Gatineau, Quebec
Loto-Québec Collection, Montreal, Quebec
Ernst & Young
The City of Ottawa
Tartar, Graphic Design
Caisses Populaires Desjardins
Caisse Populaire St-Joseph (contemporary art)
RGS Financial Services
Pharmacie Larouche, Gatineau, Quebec
Cogetech (engineering consultants firm)
Private collections across Canada
2010 Canadian Landscape Juried Exhibition, Exhibition catalogue, Agnes Jamieson Gallery, Minden Hills Cultural Center, Minden, Ontario, 2010
2010 Regard sur… (A Look At...), on-line article for CRCO (Outaouais's Regional Council for Culture), September, 2010
2008 Artists Homage to Their Mentors, Claude Bouchard, Le Droit, Weekend Edition, 14 June, 2008, p. A11
2008 Interview with Marina Cutler for AvenueArt Studio 10 website
2005 AUPEL Inc., Calendar
2005 Weekend Outaouais, Arts & Spectacles, Marie Pier L’Écuyer, September, p. A6, 30
2003 Art at the City Galleries, “Due West Magazine”, Fall/Winter 2003-04, p. 14
2003 Going Out, “The Citizen”, Saturday, September 27, p. K3
2003 La toile, le papier et la pierre (Canvas, Paper and Stone), Marie-Ève Bouchard, Week-End Outaouais, Saturday, March 1, p. A2
2003 L'Outaouais sous toutes ses formes...d'art, exposition au Centre d'arts visuels (d'Orléans)
2003 “L'Express”, Frédéric Projean, Thursday, March 13, p. 6
2002 L’Outaouais en Estrie (The Outaouais in the Eastern Townships), Mario Boulianne,
2002 Le Droit, Wednesday, October 30, p. 14
RAAV - Association of professional visual artists, Montreal, Quebec
Artistic Group Axe Néo-7, Gatineau, Quebec
OAA - Ottawa Art Association (Member of the administration council 2005-2007)
CRCO - Outaouais Regional Council for Culture
