Public Art
Works
Lyse Lemieux’s interdisciplinary practice has focused on drawing and also includes sculpture, painting, and installation. In recent years Lemieux has expanded her practice to include outdoor large scale Public Art with projects that consider the physical, emotional and communal environments these spaces offer. Through considerations of process and materiality her work continues to explore the space between abstraction and representation, while maintaining a strong connection to the human and sometimes not so human figure.
Originally from Ottawa, Lyse Lemieux attended the University of Ottawa and graduated with a BFA from the University of British-Columbia. She has exhibited nationally and internationally including the Canadian Cultural Centre in Rome, the Vancouver Art Gallery, Oakville Galleries, Richmond Art Gallery, Trépanier-Baer Gallery in Calgary, Katzman Contemporary, Toronto; Wil Aballe Art projects, SFU Gallery, and, the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver. Lemieux has been awarded grants from the BC Arts Council, the Canada Council and is recipient of the 2017 VIVA AWARD granted annually by the Jack and Doris Shadbolt Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Exhibitions
Interwoven
Lyse Lemieux
May 6 – June 6, 2023
Journal
Untitled Dress in 2 Parts
Catalog Entry
Lyse Lemieux’s recent series Untitled Dress in 2 Parts showcases strong visual style and explore the relationship between clothing and the wearer, and between object and subject. Notably, each work is divided into two parts, aptly named in 2 Parts, which invites curiosity. Lemieux’s work often contains thought-provoking concepts that extend beyond mere visual changes and playfulness.
Lyse Lemieux, Untitled Dress in 2 Parts, 2021 © Lyse Lemieux. Photo: Courtesy of the Artist
Personification
Essay
A common theme in Lyse Lemieux’s latest works is the presence of strange figures that bare loose resemblance to human beings. In both Hiatus and Tree Figures, the figures stand upright and appear to have bipedal appendages capable of walking. In Sans Titre (Jambes), although the number of appendages grows disproportionately high, the figure nonetheless bares human-like facial features, depicted clearly in profile view. Yet, in all three paintings, the figures are fundamentally non-human. Instead, they appear as fantastical beings akin to mythological creatures.
Lyse Lemieux, Hiatus, 2022 © Lyse Lemieux. Photo: Rachel Topham
Sans Titre (Jambes)
Catalog Entry
What captivates the viewer’s eyes in Lyse Lemieux’s latest works is the apparent strangeness of the image. In Sans Titre (Jambes), a figure is comprised of six or seven leg-like appendages of various shapes and sizes. The top of the figure features a head in profile raised slightly towards the left, while a full face with squinted eyes protrudes jarringly to the right. Although the figure’s anatomy is puzzling, the symbolism provides clear insight into the mind of the artist.
Lyse Lemieux, Sans Titre (Jambes), 2022 © Lyse Lemieux. Photo: Rachel Topham
White Gloves, Gants Blancs
Catalog Entry
Textiles is an on-going theme in the art of Vancouver-based artist Lyse Lemieux, encompassing her painting, sculpture, and installation. The practice of adorning ourselves in textiles is unique to us as human beings and shared globally across cultures. Similarly, clothing gives us a sense of identity and brings individuals together as a group. Yet, clothing is too often used to discriminate and set individuals or groups apart from the other.
Lyse Lemieux, White Gloves, Gants Blancs (detail), 2022 © Lyse Lemieux. Photo: T. Chang
NEws
The Intrinsic Need to Create
Video
Lyse Lemieux
Lyse Lemieux’s interview with Radio-Canada (CBC) is available online from April 21, 2023. In her Vancouver studio, Lemieux talks about her interdisciplinary practice, including painting, sculpture, installation, and public art. Having worked in this studio for thirty-six years, she finds inspiration and freedom here. The space is filled with the artist’s canvases, brushes, and tools; all brilliantly captured in the video interview.
Lyse Lemieux in her studio, Vancouver. Photo: Radio-Canada / Pierre Beaudoin
So Dawn Goes Down To Day – Art Gallery at Evergreen
Museum Exhibition
Lyse Lemieux
Lyse Lemieux’s So Dawn Goes Down To Day opens Sept 17 at the Art Gallery at Evergreen. The solo exhibition focuses on the Vancouver-based artist’s recent paintings, as well as an accompanying sculpture that points to the ongoing influence of textiles in Lemieux’s interdisciplinary practice.
Lyse Lemieux, Dorsale. La Couleur de mes mots, 2022 © Lyse Lemieux. Photo: Rachel Topham