Pierre Gauvreau (1922-2011)

Pierre Gauvreau – Artist Biography

Pierre Gauvreau and Janine Carreau outside their country home, 2009

Shortly after Simon Desdnere moved his gallery from Montreal, determined to introduce Toronto art lovers to abstract painting from Quebec, he offered Gauvreau a solo exhibition at his Hazelton Avenue Gallery in 1979. To mark the 30th Anniversary of Pierre Gauvreau's first solo show in Toronto in the exact same building that now houses Gallery Gevik, we are pleased to present a retrospective of choice works.

As an early disciple of Paul-Emile Borduas (inspiring the nickname "[the] born painter"), Gauvreau alongside Jean-Paul Riopelle exhibited together in an international Surrealistes show in France (1951). Gauvreau was a signatory of the famous manifesto, Refus Global (Total Refusal), formed and published in 1948 by the Automatistes (1940s) and led by Borduas. The manifesto rejected formal academic strains of teaching and the Automatistes were heavily influenced by Surrealism and automatism. Of all the members, Gauvreau's favouritism towards a subconscious approach to painting: the freshness, the immediacy, and the freedom, solidified his work as "avant-garde". In 1977, after a hiatus of more than ten years during which his energies were absorbed by film and television, Gauvreau's colours intensified, his canvases grew larger, and he began working in a style that combined his earlier gestural brushwork with shapes and techniques associated usually with colour field and hard-edged painting: large areas of bright colour, geometric shapes, and the use of tape and collage to give sharply designated edges. Luxe, calme, et volupte (Luxury, calm, and sensual pleasure) is the earliest example in this Retrospective.

Exhibition Introduction

When I met Pierre Gauvreau and had the opportunity to tour his studio, I was somewhat surprised that such fierce, adventurous painting could be the product of such a private, gentle man. As I spoke with him and his wife Janine at their expansive Eastern Township home, however, it became clear to me that behind his gentle countenance was the soul of a revolutionary – part poet, political activist, academic, and artist, Pierre Gauvreau's strength is attested to in his vast contribution to Canadian art and culture over the last seventy years.

Along with Bordaus and his fellow rebels, Pierre Gauvreau helped spearhead the Automatistes movement – a reaction to the repressive strangehold held by the clerics over French Canadian culture. The Automatistes aesthetic, which places an importance on creation derived from the unconscious, is present in the unwavering experimental nature of Gauvreau's work. His paintings of the last thirty years are stunning abstractions featuring some of the most complex colour shading I've ever seen. It pained me, as I toured his studio, to choose the pieces for this exhibition, as I found all of them to be profoundly inspiring. Gauvreau's work is a testament to his prodigious talent, commanding he continue to paint at least two-three hours a day despite his age.

For Gauvreau, art-making is his greatest pleasure, and so it is impossible for him not to do so. I, myslef, am a life-long collector and am so honoured to re-introduce him to Toronto's art community in the very gallery where he had his last solo exhibition twenty-five years ago. His work, though strongly rooted in the past, bears a style and content that point toward the future and so he is a fitting addition to our roster of artists whose work I would like to think represents a microcosm of perspectives and cultures. I could not have held this exhibition without the help of some dedicated people. Thank you to Justin Giallonardo for his editorial contribution. Thanks also goes to Janine Carreau for her outstanding photographs and for keeping the most extraordinarily organized studio I've ever seen. Finally, thank you to Gauvreau himself, whose dazzling, playful, deeply serious works have inspired generations of artists and admirers.

— Phillip Gevik, Director