Robert Marchessault
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Robert Marchessault is a well-established Canadian painter with an extensive exhibition history. He was born in Montreal in 1953, and achieved a BFA from Concordia University, Montreal in 1978. His work has been exhibited in nearly 120 solo and group shows throughout North America. His newest series of works on panel evolves out of his continued interest in the contemporary, sublime landscape.
Marchessault states:
"The landscape paintings, which I have been making since the mid-1970s, seek to reveal my emerging understanding of the non-duality of nature. These works have gone through a range of artistic treatments, with an evolving focus on space, light, textures, atmosphere, and distance. I am intrigued by the sensation of being personally diminished when experiencing great spaces: deserts, mountains, and vast open plains make me feel that some fundamental truth is revealed by this sense of dissolution into these spaces. My landscape paintings are made from memory, not from on-site drawings or photographs. I use memory as a filtering agent to remove nonessential visual elements. When a work is successful, it has a poetry that presents some aspect of my understanding of who I am."
Since relocating to Ontario, Marchessault has been the recipient of multiple Ontario Arts Council grants, and in 2000 was the Artist in Residence at the Joshua Tree National Monument, Palm Springs. Selected collections include Hudson's Bay Company, Ernst & Young LLP, The Royal Bank of Canada, Esso Resources Canada Ltd, Xerox Canada Ltd., Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc., and Nissan Canada Inc.
Read our Q & A with Robert Marchessault
Read about Marchessault's work in Toronto Star Homes
Robert Marchessault featured in Toronto Star's "Tree of the Week"
