The Thompson Landry gallery offers Very little stories, an exhibition of 27 new works by France Jodoin. This stunning exhibition of Impressionist-style oil paintings is on display in the Stone Distillery space of the Thompson Landry Gallery until December 12.
Like the title Very little stories suggests, this series of remarkable works demonstrates the beauty and breadth of the technique and subject matter of France Jodoin. Each painting, whether it is a landscape, a seascape or an urban one, tells its own story, in which the artist invites the viewer to participate. The characters are predominant in this series and play an important role.
The artist was able to capture each of them at some point. And we can’t help but wonder what their stories are. What just happened to them? What’s going to happen?
“Everyone has a story to tell and many times these stories tell us about their view of the world, including the art they see. I want people to connect to my work in a visceral way and bring their own interpretation to it, rather than presenting them with a full story, ”says the artist.
The mixture of sea and land. The sky and the landscapes become blurred. Time and borders fall. The indefinite style of his compositions allows the distractions of contemporary everyday life to give way to atmospheric spaces where the mind is free to imagine.
They invite the eye to linger and the mind to stop and dive inward for a moment, away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. The viewer is invited to decipher the details of these paintings through the scope of their own experiences, letting their own sense of history become an integral part of their interaction with France Jodoin and the amazing images she creates.
France Jodoin’s work is motivated by many of her experiences, dreams and desires. What she paints may be the result of a landscape seen on her travels, or a story she read that inspired her. Sometimes it’s as easy as a walk she got to take in her own neighborhood. What emerges on the canvas is serene and contemplative; places that inspire stories.
“My job is instinctive in the sense that I don’t plan much. I usually start with an abstract landscape and as I paint there are marks that guide me to a more precise image. It is useless for me to even try to be more precise by wanting to know from the start what the colors will look like. I know from experience that so much changes during the painting process. I leave myself a lot of room to move, because I want to keep this feeling that I had when I started painting 20 years ago, the freedom that I felt as I discovered new territory without censoring it ” , she continues.
In this exhibition, we recognize the characteristic impressionist style of France Jodoin, as well as her penchant for rendering works born of her imagination. France Jodoin’s skillful applications of color and composition are believed to be reminiscent of the masterpieces created by the Romantic painter of the XIXe century, JMW Turner.
In addition to her stylistic affinities for works of art from the Romantic period, she also incorporates techniques from the same era, painting on linen and using rabbit skin glue to help stretch her surfaces. If oil is the artist’s preferred medium, his work also includes watercolors, sketches, etchings and aquatints.
When asked why she paints, France Jodoin explains beautifully and eloquently: “Because it’s the only place where I even forget that I breathe. Time has no impact when I am in my studio. Three hours may go by and when I look at the clock I feel like I walked in ten minutes ago. When I paint, it’s like I don’t even exist. It’s a weird thing to say, I know, but I can only compare this mindset – timelessness – to how I feel at any other time of the day when I’m busy doing something other than painting and there just isn’t another place like this. “
France Jodoin lives and works in Cowansville located in the Eastern Townships in Quebec. She has exhibited her paintings in museums and galleries for over 20 years in Canada, the United States and Europe.
Very little stories promises to be France Jodoin’s most astonishing and diverse showcase to date. The spectators are invited to the Stone Distillery space of the gallery to immerse themselves in its atmospheric and dreamlike scenes and to be transported to another time and another place.
PHOTO – Under the Fog of a Winter Dawn
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