DOMINIC PAPILLON / CHAIR ET VÉRITÉ
With his most recent exhibition entitled Flesh and Truth, presented for the first time at Sporobole, Dominic Papillon presents a series of sculptures exploring the combined themes of the body and the sacred. With a plastic approach that follows in the wake of the pop movement, the artist explores the notion of the grotesque by drawing inspiration from the exuberance of Christian imagery from the Gothic, Baroque and Rococo genres.
Through a play of juxtaposition and superposition of organic and geometric forms that echo the extravagance of churches, various elements are reconfigured in assemblies evoking draped, clouds, rainbows, hair, halos, bushy foliage, columns and arches. All these references intersect and respond in an amalgam of materials specific to both industry (styrofoam, molten cement, urethane foam, silicone) and traditional sculpture (fibreglass, plaster, steel). The notions of lust, glorification, spirituality and power intertwine through these icons and materials, simultaneously expressing refinement, disorder and abjection.
Oscillating between abstraction and figuration, Dominic Papillon’s works explore the narrative potential of sculpture through the use of unusual materials and forms: the flashy appearance of objects of ornament or festivities, the beauty and appeal of toys and sweets, the splendour surrounding patriotic and religious icons and the presence of monuments are sources of inspiration and form the basis of his plastic language. “I try to create an imagery with ambiguous semantic contours of sensual and strange construction. I propose a crazy vision of a world where sensuality and spirituality coexist. Exacerbation, disgust, onirism, reversal, overthrow, plethora, shimmer, lust; these are some of the terms that could be used to define the visual atmosphere that surrounds my works.
Juxtaposing contemporary culture and religious heritage, Flesh and Truth invites us to both a playful experience of sculpture and a questioning of our sometimes fetishistic relationship with objects of worship and those produced for mass consumption.
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Artist presentation and guided tour of the bishop’s private chapel as part of Dominic Papillon’s exhibition
Artist presentation on Saturday, December 1 at 1 p.m. at Sporobole followed at 2:30 p.m. by a guided tour (1 p.m.) of Sherbrooke bishop’s private chapel, decorated by Ozias Leduc. Visit given by Mrs. Monique Nadeau-Saumier, art historian and specialist in the religious heritage of the Eastern Townships. Limited places for the visit of the chapel, exceptionally open for this activity, please reserve: [email protected]
Suggested entrance fee for the Chapel: $5
13h artist presentation at Sporobole, 74 Albert Street, Sherbrooke
2:30 pm guided tour of the Bishop’s Chapel, 130, Cathedral, Sherbrooke
With his most recent exhibition entitled Flesh and Truth, presented for the first time at Sporobole, Dominic Papillon presents a series of sculptures exploring the combined themes of the body and the sacred. With a plastic approach that follows in the wake of the pop movement, the artist explores the notion of the grotesque by drawing inspiration from the exuberance of Christian imagery from the Gothic, Baroque and Rococo genres.
Dominic Papillon holds a bachelor’s degree in visual and media arts (UQAM, 2006) and a master’s degree in sculpture (Concordia, 2009). His practice is essentially based on sculpture and installation. Among his exhibitions are Collision V at the Parisian Laundry (2009) and Nostalgie du présent at the Circa exhibition centre (2010). He is the recipient of several awards, including the Jacques de Tonnancour Excellence Award (UQAM) and the Dale and Nick Tedeschi Studio Arts Fellowship. He received a grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for the production of this exhibition.
Vidéo : Martin Guimont Montage : Gaétan Desmarais
Photos : Jocelyn Riendeau