Artcore

Marc Séguin Nocturnal Solutions

October 9 - 30, 1999

Artcore is proud to present new works by Montreal based artist Marc Séguin for the first time in Toronto, following a successful premiere at Art Forum Berlin earlier this month.

For this exhibition Séguin has created a series of large, elegant black paintings which are deceptively simple. They are, on closer inspection, psychologically intense works which are numinous and not easliy read, revealing their content only slowly, as a dream. In his signature manner, the artist makes use of an expansive colour field which sets the stage for dramatically sparse, enigmatic compositions. Juxtaposing accomplished figure drawing (often done directly on the unprimed canvas) and more playful 'painted' lines creates a potentially unsettling effect evoking a dialogue in which we are not sure of the outcome.

Séguin's references seem obvious enough; strong figure drawing, post-painterly abstraction, the scratchy drawing in simple lines reminiscent of the Italian trans-avantgarde; but it is the way he combines and uses them which surprises, as if, having mastered a language, he is presenting us with new words. Or perhaps it is that he has managed to explode a painting into it's various elements and put them barely back together again. A dynamic is set up between intense psychological content and compositional simplicity, between drawing and painting, colour and it's total absorbtion, structured and free gesture, the fragment and the whole. In the end, it is the undecided character of these works which gives them their strength.

Marc Séguin has attracted much critical acclaim in Quebec and Europe, and his many upcoming exhibitions will include a solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal in the year 2000.

Gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday 11:00 - 5:00
For information, telephone (416) 920 3820

Artcore