Graham Cantieni. Milestones 1980-1988

From September 30 to October 23, the Galerie de l’UQAM presents the works of Graham Cantieni, professor in the fine arts department of UQAM. Milestones 1980-1988 brings together, as its title suggests, a selection of works produced over the past eight years.

In this presentation, the emphasis is put on a group of recent paintings (1987-1988) in which the opposition between the gestural application of the material and the precision of the drawing prevails. An effect of spatial ambiguity emerges, in which the subject is erased in favor of color.

In the words of art theorist Marcelin Pleynet, these works “bear witness to an artistic practice and experience whose vitality, sensitivity and intelligence are immediately evident. ”

Milestones 1980-1988 is the second part of three exhibitions presented by the artist this fall in Montreal and Switzerland.

The artist

Originally from Australia, Graham Cantieni has lived in Canada since 1968. In addition to his personal production, he has worked in various artistic fields, including teaching, research and publishing, and was, from 1976 to 1983, director of the art gallery of the Cultural Center of the University of Sherbrooke. Founding president of the magazines Cahiers des arts visuels du Québec and 10.5155.20. From 1984 to 1987, he stayed in France where he produced the first works of the Parataxe series.

Cantieni has been the subject of more than fifty solo exhibitions, notably in Melbourne, Montreal, Halifax, Saint-Jean, Ottawa, Paris and Bordeaux. He has also participated in group exhibitions in Europe, the United States and Canada. In addition to his painted and drawn works, Graham Cantieni has produced installations and sculptures as well as a book, Kerameikos, published in 1987 by Éditions du Noroît, which brings together seventy-two drawings by the artist and a poem by Louky Bersianik. .