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JEAN-THOMAS BÉDARD
Mon fleuve : De l’immense à l’intime
September 7, 2024 to
January 5, 2025
January 5, 2025
Jean-Thomas Bédard has a philosophical outlook towards nature, which, he believes, is at the heart of humanity and all great artistic endeavours. Exulting in the immense power of nature’s splendour, he cuts human beings down to size, finding the sublime in the tiniest details. In this exhibition entitled Mon fleuve : De l’immense à l’intime, the Lac-Saint-Jean-born painter, filmmaker and photographer, reveals his intimate relationship with the shoreline of the St. Lawrence estuary, through its geology, flora and fauna.
The exhibition is divided into two parts. The series LITTORAL – Un fleuve, un regard is a detailed exploration of the morphology of the shoreline, shot in close-up. Bédard has created images that can best be regarded as paintings, framing living entities (such as greenery ) with slabs of rock – evidence of the ancient geological movements that shaped the topography of the riverbanks. The second series, Géographie variable, is a reimagining, through digital technology, of some of Bédard’s existing images, themed around the Laurentian landscape and the River. In addition to his photographic work, Jean-Thomas Bédard co-creates online art projects with a Ukrainian painter who lives in a war zone. They work on one image at a time that they send back and forth. The results, produced jointly, burst with colour and energy.
Trained in painting at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (EBAMA), Jean-Thomas Bédard went on to become a filmmaker at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB/ONF). He is best known for his international, award-winning animated films and documentaries on historical and social themes such as resilience, fatherhood and the healing of grief. Bédard has also been an instructor in animation at the Centro Téchnico Audovisual (CTAV) in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and has exhibited his drawings and paintings at a number of venues across Canada. Since 2012, Bédard has devoted himself to fine art photography. Now based in the Eastern Townships, he draws his inspiration from the St. Lawrence River, its shores and tidal flats, as illustrated in these intimate, unique images.
The exhibition is divided into two parts. The series LITTORAL – Un fleuve, un regard is a detailed exploration of the morphology of the shoreline, shot in close-up. Bédard has created images that can best be regarded as paintings, framing living entities (such as greenery ) with slabs of rock – evidence of the ancient geological movements that shaped the topography of the riverbanks. The second series, Géographie variable, is a reimagining, through digital technology, of some of Bédard’s existing images, themed around the Laurentian landscape and the River. In addition to his photographic work, Jean-Thomas Bédard co-creates online art projects with a Ukrainian painter who lives in a war zone. They work on one image at a time that they send back and forth. The results, produced jointly, burst with colour and energy.
Trained in painting at the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (EBAMA), Jean-Thomas Bédard went on to become a filmmaker at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB/ONF). He is best known for his international, award-winning animated films and documentaries on historical and social themes such as resilience, fatherhood and the healing of grief. Bédard has also been an instructor in animation at the Centro Téchnico Audovisual (CTAV) in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and has exhibited his drawings and paintings at a number of venues across Canada. Since 2012, Bédard has devoted himself to fine art photography. Now based in the Eastern Townships, he draws his inspiration from the St. Lawrence River, its shores and tidal flats, as illustrated in these intimate, unique images.
Photo credit : Jean-Michel Naud, photographe
Autumn exhibitions
Each artist, in their own way, depicts the maritime world of rivers and riverbanks carved out by the restless movement of the tides. Through installations and photographs, Hannah Claus, who is of mixed Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) and English descent, explores her relationship with Kahrhionhwa’kó:wa [the Great River] and Tiohtià:ke [Montreal]. Photographer Jean-Thomas Bédard, inspired by his intimate connections to the shores of the St. Lawrence, shoots his images in close-up, turning them into stunning works of art. Magali Baribeau-Marchand, for her part, envelops the viewer in soft images of everyday places and things – an immersive world, creatively reimagined by the artist.
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