Sylvain Coulombe paints portraits with indigo eyes, one blue, the other black. He depicts people staring in different directions, some gazing upward while others look to their right, and so forth. We see round as well as oblong faces that resemble masks. They reveal little, which compels viewers to imagine the rest. No wonder mystery envelops this art. Indeed both Coulombe\u2019s images and words suggest that truth inhabits a twilight zone. <\/p>\n
He creates evolving abstractions, \u201cI always start with an abstract background. I then sit back and take a long hard look at the canvas until I discern a portrait emerging from it. Thereafter the painting indicates the natural course of its development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coulombe applies layer upon layer of paint, and varnish at the end. By superimposing on and repeatedly covering the surface, it undergoes a thorough transformation due to these successive coats of acrylic or resin. \u201cPerhaps art serves as an ongoing means to redeem periods of my past\u2026Painting over what preceded results in a mishmash from which I formulate a new, coherent vision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coulombe\u2019s works reflect a primal instinct harnessed for aesthetic purposes. Self-mastery enables him not only to articulate the meaning of indescribable feelings, but also to make them visible and give them material form. These emotions very gradually find their voice. They do so bit by bit through innumerable strokes of the palette knife, as well as by steady scraping. \u201cFirst of all I scrape a work-in-progress because I want to remove something, yet at the same time it enables me to discover what lies underneath.\u201d<\/p>\n
A singer, composer, sculptor, and architect, Coulombe conducts artistic experiments, of which painting marks just a stage in his journey toward self-understanding. The spectrum between blue and red, light and dark, defiance and seduction, mirrors his multifaceted character. After cathartically allowing himself to fill an entire canvas in one fell swoop of intuition, Coulombe keeps adding layers of paint so as to elaborate an aesthetic, a particular style, a representation\u2026this continues until he once again feels the need to employ that basic technique of archaeology, scraping.<\/p>\n
In his studio he paints close-up, then steps far back from the canvas. He stands it against the wall to paint vertically, and later places it horizontally on a table to spread the varnish with a squeegee. Movement thus seems essential to his work, which explains why he changes vantage points, and in quick succession executes several series of images. Innovation drives this artist. \u201cLike a child, we must ever begin anew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coulombe maintains that unless he clears his mind beforehand so as to remove all external referents, he cannot create art. He consequently jogs, walks, and meditates in order to cleanse his spirit. Painting imitates life. The vicissitudes of human existence all too soon steal our birthright of innocence. To reclaim it we must wash away the stains of life and efface its scars. This purification prepares us for the creative process and the fresh challenges that come when we start from scratch. More to the point, we thereby experience a personal renaissance. <\/p>\n
Coulombe\u2019s next exhibit at Galerie Blanche illustrates this. Here slashes of red light cut across faces that arise out of scratched surfaces. In this show colours go from strength to strength while opposites abound. \u201cHot and cold. Serene and distraught. Sunny and rainy.\u201d Coulombe\u2019s compositions bring together such extremes and meld them into a rich tapestry. Never verbose, his works nonetheless speak volumes. <\/p>\n
Coulombe, like an archaeologist, leaves no stone unturned in his search for mystery. He pursues it high and low through painting. This quest keeps him in a state of flux as he seeks to balance the constraints of reason and the impetus of creativity. <\/p>\n
Nadia Nad\u00e8ge
\nTranslated by Professor Norman Cornett <\/p>\n","masquer":true,"nom_pour_le_tri":"Coulombe","biography":"
Sylvain Coulombe holds a Bachelor in Environmental Design at UQAM. There he discovers the architecture and the infinite world of creation.
\nConsequent different projects using different materials such as steel, glass, concrete, resin and wood. His career led him gradually to sculpture. He shaped the clay into monochrome bas-reliefs. Then, to boost his works, he began to use acrylic paint. Coulombe gradually abandoned sculpture to devote himself almost exclusively to painting.
\nFive years later, in a self-taught process, research and experimentation gave birth to a plastic artist in a very personal language.<\/p>\n","social_links":false,"photo_artiste":{"ID":37658,"id":37658,"title":"Sylvain-Coulombe-Galerie-Blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal","filename":"sylvain-coulombe-galerie-blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal.jpg","filesize":68434,"url":"https:\/\/galerieblanche.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/sylvain-coulombe-galerie-blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal.jpg","link":"https:\/\/galerieblanche.com\/en\/artist\/sylvain-coulombe\/sylvain-coulombe-galerie-blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal\/","alt":"","author":"3","description":"","caption":"","name":"sylvain-coulombe-galerie-blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":27150,"date":"2018-02-22 22:45:44","modified":"2018-02-22 22:46:17","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/galerieblanche.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1000,"height":985,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/galerieblanche.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/sylvain-coulombe-galerie-blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal-100x100.jpg","thumbnail-width":100,"thumbnail-height":100,"medium":"https:\/\/galerieblanche.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/sylvain-coulombe-galerie-blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal-512x504.jpg","medium-width":512,"medium-height":504,"medium_large":"https:\/\/galerieblanche.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/sylvain-coulombe-galerie-blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":756,"large":"https:\/\/galerieblanche.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/sylvain-coulombe-galerie-blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":985,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/galerieblanche.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/sylvain-coulombe-galerie-blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":985,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/galerieblanche.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/sylvain-coulombe-galerie-blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":985,"expo_banner":"https:\/\/galerieblanche.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/sylvain-coulombe-galerie-blanche-artiste-peintre-painter-contemporary-art-gallery-montreal-1000x500.jpg","expo_banner-width":1000,"expo_banner-height":500}},"afficher_les_prix":true,"videos":[{"video_youtube":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MjF8mAcJZ4Y","nom_de_la_video":"Coulombe, Artiste Peintre"}],"grille":false},"yoast_head":"\n