Pierre Chénier

For over forty years, Pierre Chénier has explored the notion of time—a dizzying, inexplicable, and inexhaustible subject. Is it his training as a historian, his practice as an archaeologist, or his interest in art history that shapes his work? Or is it simply his concern for humanity that drives him to investigate time and its corollary, memory? In his paintings—made with canvas, plaster, resin, ink, walnut stain, and shellac—Chénier traces, erases, scratches, covers, uncovers, and preserves signs that seem forgotten by time.

The artist explains his approach:
“By drawing on the collective unconscious of archetypes and symbols, I aim to touch the viewer’s deepest emotions and create works that invite introspection. I often explore the complementarity of the ephemeral and the enduring, of matter and spirit. My concern is the human being anchored in reality, in space and time. From Piero della Francesca to Fra Angelico, from Klee to Rothko, from Tápies to Kiefer, a desire to reveal what can be called the ‘hidden spiritual’ has constantly nourished art history. For these artists, art answers not only aesthetic questions but also ontological ones. Art is seen as a ‘meditation on the “foundations of the world” (Mora).'”

“Nothing that exists is permanent. For me, creation in the broad sense and artistic creation are similar processes. The beauty of the gesture unites them. Order seizes the indeterminate, form organizes matter—the form being understood as the organization of an initial chaos. It is the encounter of chance and necessity. We are not far from the ‘inner necessity’ evoked by Kandinsky. Matter carries the meaning of the work. Within matter resides the work and its sense. Constructing with the unforeseen, using chance, accident. Arranging each part to form a whole…”

Pierre Chénier’s works have been featured in approximately twenty solo exhibitions, including at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Sherbrooke; galleries Simon Blais (Montréal), Thompson-Landry (Toronto), Trias (Toronto), Bergeron (Ottawa), Estampe Plus (Québec); as well as the Centre d’Art d’Orford and the Centre d’Art de Sutton. He has also participated in around thirty group exhibitions, including at the Centre culturel Bombardier (Valcourt); galleries Loto Québec (Montréal), Simon Blais (Montréal), and Ariadne (Vienna); as well as the Lauréats en art contemporain (Longueuil) and the Biennale du Dessin (Alma).

His work has been presented at international art fairs: four times at Entrée libre à l’art contemporain (Montréal), twice at the Cologne Art Fair (Germany), as well as at the International Art Fair in Toronto, Art America and Art Expo in Florida, and the Chicago Art Fair. He is represented in numerous public and private collections, including the Canada Council for the Arts, the Musée d’Art Contemporain (Montréal), the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, as well as the collections of Loto Québec, Artothèque de la Bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy, and SNC Lavalin.

His works have been featured in publications such as Circuit, the North American journal of 20th-century music, and Le Sabord.