Pierre François Ouellette art contemporain is pleased to inaugurate its gallery with an exhibition of works by Annie Thibault. The artist will be presenting an installation entitled Capteurs d'essence, photographs from her series Sporées, as well as recent watercolours Thibault's work is inspired by an aesthetic of life in which art, science and nature overlap; and her multidisciplinary artistic practice includes drawing, sculpture, installation, photography and video. Making use of the tools and technical resources from various biochemistry and microbiology research centres, the artist uses organic matter as artistic material: distilling it into a universe rich in mystery.
While discussing the installation Capteurs d'essence, Annie Thibault mentions how its conception was originally inspired by imagery from the past : In old French folklore it was believed that certain species of mushrooms came from the sky, having fallen from the moon. They were referred to as "moon spittle," "star purging," and even "devil's spit." The instruments that biologists use to collect spore samples from specific sites were used in a poetic manner in creating this piece. Capteurs d'essence invites the viewer to enter into a world of spontaneous generation, where the inanimate comes to life through the combined breath of art and science.
In the summer of 2001 Annie Thibault was awarded the gold medal in the sculpture competition of the Francophone Games for her work Capteurs d'essence. Recipient of the 1998 "Claudia de Hueck Fellowship in Art and Science" from the National Gallery of Canada, Thibault also received the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec award for artistic achievement in 2000, given to an artist living in the Outaouais Region. Annie Thibault currently lives and works in Hull, Quebec. Her art has been shown in several solo and group exhibitions in Quebec, Canada and Finland.
Press review:
2001 Martine ROULEAU, Création spontanée, Vie des arts, Montréal, hiver 2001-2002, no 185, p.84
2001 Gilbert JUTEAU, Odyssea : l'oeuvre d'une vie, La Chambre blanche, bulletin no 24, 2001, p.9-11
2001 Guy SIOUI DURAND, Fissures d'art, ESPACE sculpture, Montréal, printemps 2001 p.33-35