Artists by LAST NAMe : i, j, k AND l.

talleen hacikyan

Talleen Hacikyan, born in 1959 in Montreal, is a visual artist, printmaker, and art educator with over thirty years of experience. She holds a degree in anthropology from McGill University and a fine arts and education degree from the Université du Québec à Montréal. She has been a member of Atelier Circulaire since 1985, where she teaches and specializes in non-toxic printmaking.

Her main practice is collagraphy, which she describes as intuitive and playful. She also works with monotypes, linocuts, and sculptural prints. Her process often involves using leaves, vegetables, and hand-cut wood to create visual narratives that reflect identity and a connection to nature.

She has participated in over 80 exhibitions in Canada and internationally, including solo and group shows in the United States. She has received the Loto-Québec Printmaking Prize, the Pierre Henry Prize (Pratt & Whitney Canada), and the Speedball Purchase Award. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections.

John Heward

John Heward (1934–2018), born in Montreal, was a self-taught Canadian artist known for his work in painting, sculpture, printmaking, performance, and improvised music. A graduate in English literature and history from Bishop’s University, he was also the nephew of painter Prudence Heward. His artistic practice was grounded in intuitive abstraction, using raw gestures, simple materials, and spatial compositions.

He held over 40 solo exhibitions in cities such as Paris, Atlanta, Calgary, and Toronto, and participated in numerous group exhibitions across Canada and the United States. His work has been shown at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, and the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris.

In 2012, he was awarded the prestigious Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas in recognition of his career. As part of a generation of artists who blurred the boundaries between visual art and sound, John Heward’s legacy continues to influence contemporary Canadian art.

paul hichin

Paul Hichin, born in 1941 in Codsall, England, moved to France in 1962 after studying at the Birmingham School of Fine Arts (1958–1961). He specializes in burin engraving and mezzotint, developing a minimalist aesthetic deeply influenced by a serious car accident in his youth, which left him with lasting visual impairments.

Both an artist and a scenographer, he worked with major theatre figures such as Roger Planchon, Jean-Louis Martinelli, and Henri Ronse. His printmaking practice focuses on memory, the human body, and the legacy of war. Key series include Set in Copper (1991) and Traces and Whispers from Emptiness (2002), exhibited in France, including at the Resistance Museum in Grenoble.

In 1982, he co-founded URDLA in Villeurbanne, a centre for contemporary printmaking where he continues to contribute to a collaborative and forward-thinking approach to the art of print.

céline huyghebaert

Céline Huyghebaert is an artist and writer working at the intersection of literature and visual art through prints, books, exhibitions, and collaborations. In her own practice, she uses a broad range of techniques to tell stories that are part documentary, part fiction: traditional and digital printing processes, writing, collages, along with research tools like interviews or archives. She is particularly interested in collaborative gestures and “poor materials,” such as paper, photocopy, and risography.

Huyghebaert recently exhibited "Un cas particulier / A specific woman" at Occurrence, a Montreal contemporary art center, where she created a fictional artist from archival documents and correspondence with over 50 visual artists.

In 2019, Huyghebaert won the Governor General’s Award for her first novel "Le drap blanc" published by Le Quartanier, and was awarded the Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art. She completed a PhD in Art from UQAM, where she also earned a Master’s degree in Literature. She is currently conducting postdoctoral research in Quebec and France, working on a new book and exhibition about the image and language of pain. Huyghebaert was born in France and has been living in Montreal since 2002.

Les mots ont perdu leur sens

2023 | Diptyque composé de « la marque » + un moulage en exemplaire unique sur pâte d’argile, papier maché, glue et pigment

Carmen Isasi

Carmen Isasi, born in 1958 in Bilbao and based in Madrid since 1993, is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose practice includes painting, printmaking, drawing, collage, photogravure, video, and sound installations. She holds a Fine Arts degree from the University of the Basque Country and completed postgraduate studies in Aesthetics and Art Theory in Madrid, along with training at the Círculo de Bellas Artes.

Her artistic approach explores the relationship between collective memory and identity, drawing inspiration from Spanish art history as well as contemporary sociocultural issues. Her work is marked by delicate composition, subtle color usage, and a constant engagement with material experimentation.

Since the early 2010s, she has exhibited regularly in Spain and internationally, with shows across Europe and Latin America. Her practice resonates with diverse audiences and contributes meaningfully to the evolution of the contemporary Iberian art scene.

maria jankovic

Maria Jankovics is a visual artist born in 1949 in Budapest, Hungary, and based in Montreal, Quebec, for several decades. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University in Montreal, where she received formal training in visual arts.

Since 1985, she has taken part in over 134 solo and group exhibitions, demonstrating a long-standing and active presence in the Quebec art scene. Her work has been featured in several cultural venues across the province, including Maison Meunier, Maison de la culture Mercier, Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, and Maison de la culture in Gatineau.

Her artistic approach, often noted for its sensitivity to form and texture, explores themes of memory, the body, and identity through a range of techniques including printmaking and engraving. As of 2005, she was still living and working in Montreal, actively contributing to the visual arts community.

Saskia Jetten

Originally from the Netherlands, Saskia Jetten is a visual artist based in British Columbia, Canada. She specializes in contemporary printmaking and has developed an international artistic career. Her work has been exhibited extensively in Europe, Canada, the United States, and China, highlighting the broad international reach of her creative practice.

In 2012, she received the Atelier-Galerie A. Piroir Award at the Biennale internationale d’estampe contemporaine de Trois-Rivières (BIECTR), one of the most prestigious printmaking events in Quebec. She was also awarded the Grafiek Nu 10 Prize in the Netherlands, further confirming her recognition within the European printmaking community.

Jetten’s work often explores repetition, organic forms, and layered textures, inviting viewers into a contemplative dialogue about transformation and the natural world. She remains an active figure in both the Canadian and international printmaking scenes.

 François Jeune

François Jeune is a French visual artist born in 1951 in Boulogne-Billancourt. He is widely recognized for his significant contributions to contemporary abstraction in France. Trained at the École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris, he began exhibiting in the early 1980s and became a key figure in the neo-geometric movement in Europe.

His artistic approach is characterized by a disciplined exploration of color and structure, often balancing rational composition with perceptual experience. His works feature grids, vibrating lines, and modulated surfaces that challenge the viewer’s visual perception. Jeune’s work has been shown at major institutions such as the Centre Pompidou and the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, and his pieces are included in both national and international public collections.

 Harlan Johnson

Harlan Johnson is an American printmaker and visual artist born in 1965. He has lived and worked in Quebec since the early 2000s. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ohio State University and a Master’s in Printmaking from the University of Wisconsin. Johnson is known for his expressive linework and use of humor and symbolism in his compositions.

His work; primarily woodcuts, etchings, and drawings, explores themes of absurdity, everyday life, and the human condition. He has exhibited in galleries across Canada and the United States, including in Montreal, Quebec City, Chicago, and New York. Johnson has also taught printmaking in various Canadian institutions and is active in the contemporary printmaking scene.

lucie jolicoeur côté

Lucie Jolicoeur-Côté is a visual artist based in Montreal. Initially dedicated to drawing and painting, she turned to printmaking in the early 1990s. Captivated by the expressive potential of etching, she trained at the Saidye Bronfman Centre in Montreal and later completed an advanced program at the printmaking school in Urbino, Italy.

Her artistic approach combines poetic nuance and formal precision, often centered on the interplay between gesture and texture. She is an active member of Atelier Circulaire and the ARPRIM artist-run network.

Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions across Canada and abroad. It is included in several public and private collections, notably at Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and the City of Montreal’s collection.

 Julianna Joos

Julianna Joos is a visual artist, educator, and researcher based in Montreal. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Concordia University and a Master’s degree from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). She has taught fine arts at Dawson College for over twenty years.

Her artistic practice spans printmaking, textiles, photography, and artist’s books. She is particularly interested in themes of identity, memory, and storytelling, often working with hybrid forms that combine traditional techniques with digital technologies.

Julianna Joos has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada, Europe, South America, and Asia. Her works are held in both private and public collections, including Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, the Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts, and the Loto-Québec Collection.

harold klunder

Born in the Netherlands in 1943, Harold Klunder immigrated to Canada in 1952. He settled in Toronto and studied at Central Technical School in the early 1960s. His first solo exhibition in 1976 launched a prolific career in contemporary painting.

Klunder’s work is known for its layered, textured surfaces and extended creative processes. His paintings explore broad existential themes such as identity, biology, memory, time, and the psyche. In recent decades, self-portraiture has emerged as a central theme, offering a complex and personal visual exploration.

His art has gained national recognition and is part of major public collections including the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

 Peter Krausz

Born in 1946 in Brașov, Romania, Peter Krausz immigrated to Canada in 1970, fleeing the communist regime in Eastern Europe. He settled in Montreal and developed a distinguished visual arts career exploring themes of exile, memory, and historical trauma.

A graduate of the Fine Arts Institute of Bucharest, Krausz taught at Université de Montréal before becoming a professor in the Department of Visual Arts at Concordia University. His work blends figuration and abstraction, often referencing Mediterranean landscapes and Europe’s twentieth-century conflicts.

He has exhibited extensively in Canada and abroad, including shows at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Galerie de l’UQAM. His work is represented in major public and private collections.

 Serge Lafortune

Born in Montreal in 1952, Serge Lafortune is a Quebec-based visual artist known for his work in printmaking, photography, and installation. A graduate in visual arts from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), he became active in the art scene during the 1980s and was a long-time member of Atelier Graff, a major printmaking studio and artist-run center.

His work explores the relationships between memory, trace, and transformation. Through a conceptual approach, Lafortune pushes the boundaries of print media and its integration with spatial environments.

His artworks have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions across Quebec, Canada, and abroad. His works are also part of major public collections, including those of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

Janne laine

Born in 1970, Janne Laine lives and works in Tampere, Finland. A master printmaker, he spent over 25 years at Graphic Studio Himmelblau, where he achieved the status of master engraver in 2006. His artistic practice often focuses on poetic, contemplative landscapes that evoke silence, memory, and the passage of time.

He has participated in group exhibitions in about 40 countries and has held over 50 solo exhibitions in Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Belgium, and South Korea. His works are included in numerous public and private collections internationally. Over the years, Janne Laine has received multiple accolades, including an award at the Biennale internationale d’estampe contemporaine de Trois-Rivières, highlighting the international recognition of his refined and atmospheric printmaking work

norman laliberté

Norman Laliberté was a multidisciplinary artist born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1925 to French-Canadian parents. Raised in Montreal, he later studied at the Institute of Design in Chicago and the Illinois Institute of Technology. His artistic practice spanned painting, sculpture, installations, and graphic arts, reflecting a career marked by diversity and experimentation.

He gained international attention as the artistic director of Expo 67 in Montreal, a milestone event in Canada’s visual arts history. His work was exhibited in major institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the Smithsonian. Known for his vibrant, symbolic style, Laliberté often drew inspiration from folk art, spirituality, and universal visual language.

Throughout his prolific career, he consistently explored materials and symbols with an imaginative and expressive approach. Norman Laliberté remains a key figure in North American contemporary art. He passed away in 2021 at the age of 95.

 Nancy Lambert

Nancy Lambert is a Quebec artist born in 1958. A graduate in visual arts from Université Laval, she has developed a multidisciplinary practice since the 1980s, focusing on printmaking, drawing, and mixed media. Her work delves into the relationship between body, memory, and trace through refined forms and delicate textures.

A member of Atelier Circulaire in Montreal, she has taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions across Canada, Europe, and Asia. Her artworks are included in several public collections, such as the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, and the City of Montreal.

In addition to her studio practice, Nancy Lambert is engaged in teaching and leading creative workshops. Her art, situated between the conceptual and the emotional, offers a poetic meditation on time and the human imprint. Her sensitivity and precision make her a respected figure in the Quebec contemporary art scene.

michel lancelot

Michel Lancelot is a Quebec visual artist and printmaker known for his experimental approach to printmaking. Born in Montreal, he studied at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal and continued his training in Paris at the renowned Atelier 17, founded by Stanley William Hayter, a key center of innovation in printmaking. His work, marked by a constant investigation of material and print processes, blends lyrical abstraction with symbolic figuration.

Since the 1970s, he has exhibited widely in artist-run centers and galleries across Canada, France, and Belgium. His prints are held in public collections such as the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. A long-time member of Atelier Circulaire, he has also contributed to the training of younger artists through workshops and lectures. His career reflects a deep technical mastery paired with poetic visual sensibility, making him a respected figure in contemporary printmaking.

guy langevin

Guy Langevin is a Quebec artist born in 1954 in Lac-Mégantic. He studied visual arts at Université Laval and specializes in printmaking, particularly lithography and mezzotint. A long-time member of Atelier Circulaire in Montreal and Engramme in Quebec City, he has built, since the 1980s, a refined and sensitive body of work focused on the human figure and introspection.

Langevin’s prints are characterized by technical mastery and emotional depth. His themes include the human body, silence, the passage of time, and memory. He has participated in over 300 solo and group exhibitions in more than 30 countries and has received numerous awards at international printmaking biennials in Poland, China, Taiwan, Japan, and beyond. His works are included in major public collections such as the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, and the Musée de Gravelines in France.

 Danielle Lanteigne

Born in Saint-Jérôme (Laurentians), Danielle Lanteigne is a Quebec painter who studied at Concordia University in Montreal. From an early age, she taught herself oil painting, developing a practice rooted in a keen observation of everyday life. Chairs, doorways, tables, these mundane elements become animated and poetic under her gaze.

Winner of the Grand Prize from the Laurentians Cultural Council in 1992, she has since pursued an artistic path marked by a balance between structural rigor and expressive spontaneity. Her attention to texture, chromatic contrasts, and spatial composition reflects a deeply intuitive approach. Identifying as a colorist, she reinterprets familiar objects to reveal hidden rhythms and emotional resonance.

Influenced by major figures in Quebec art, Lanteigne has developed a visual language that embraces form, matter, and the vibrant pulse of colour. Her work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions across Quebec and Canada.

Jean-pierre larocque

Born in Montreal in 1953, Jean-Pierre Larocque studied drawing and printmaking at the Université du Québec à Montréal before pursuing studies in ceramics at Concordia University and the Alfred University of New York, from which he received an MFA in 1988.

While living and teaching for over ten years in the United States, the artist travelled repeatedly to Europe and Asia. Having shown his work extensively in North America as well as being included in many public and private collections, Larocque was selected to present a major solo exhibition in 2006 to inaugurate the new contemporary gallery of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics in Toronto. Jean-Pierre Larocque lives and works in Montreal.

Hélène Latulippe

Hélène Latulippe is a Canadian artist based in Montréal. She has studied industrial design and in 2012, she has received a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal. She focuses primarily on visual arts since. She has also studied in France and Italy.

She has presented numerous solo and group exhibitions in venues that include Calgary, Toronto, UK, and Norway.  She has attended residencies in Norway, Montreal and Banff Center, as an independent resident in Leighton Colony Artists Studios, as part of the  Programme du Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec – Résidences d’artistes et d’écrivains québécois au Banff Centre.

 She received grants from “Le Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec” and from McGill University in Montreal. She is prize-winner of “La 9e biennale internationale d’estampe contemporaine de Trois-Rivières” 2015 for the quality of her work and Artist of the Year 2014, City of Montreal – Lachine district.

Her work is all ready collected and includes Air Canada, Banque Nationale du Canada, Concordia University and private collectors like lawyers, architects and designers offices.

Traces

2012 | Triptych, 76 x 228 cm | Drypoint

René Laubiès

René Laubiès was born in Saigon in 1924, where he spent much of his childhood immersed in a rich mix of Asian and European cultures. After completing his law studies in Morocco in 1949, he settled in Paris, where his passion for painting, nurtured since adolescence, quickly drew attention in the post-war art scene. By the 1950s, his minimalist abstractions, often luminous and meditative, were sought after by collectors and galleries alike.

For more than three decades, Laubiès led a nomadic life, travelling extensively through Greece, Iran, and Turkey, and dividing his time between Paris and India. Deeply influenced by oriental philosophies, he developed a visual language marked by clarity, restraint, and spiritual depth. His works, often painted in soft, radiant tones, evoke a sense of balance and timelessness. René Laubiès passed away in India in 2006, leaving behind a body of work that bridges Eastern and Western sensibilities.

jean-claude le floch

Né en 1945 et disparu en 2009, Jean-Claude Le Floch a suivi sa formation à l’École des beaux-arts de Lorient, avant de se perfectionner à l’atelier parisien du maître graveur en taille douce Manuel Robbe. De retour en Bretagne au début des années 1970, il enseigne la gravure à l’École des beaux-arts de Lorient, puis donne également des cours d’art aux enfants à Vannes.

Bien que l’enseignement ait occupé une place importante dans sa vie, Le Floch se consacre surtout à sa carrière de graveur. Ses œuvres, empreintes de précision et d’un sens raffiné de la composition, s’inspirent à la fois des paysages maritimes bretons et de traditions artistiques européennes. Ses expositions, individuelles ou collectives, lui valent une reconnaissance en Bretagne, à Paris, mais aussi aux Pays-Bas, en Allemagne, en Espagne et en Suède. Par son travail, Jean-Claude Le Floch a contribué à perpétuer et à renouveler la gravure en taille douce dans la création contemporaine.

christiane léaud

Africa, Europe, and the Americas have all shaped the life journey of Christiane Léaud, an artist currently living and working in Montreal.

Her first artistic creations were batiks on silk (wall panels and scarves), produced during a two-year stay in New York City. A former literature teacher (French and Latin) at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf, she published a series of educational booklets titled À l’œuvre ! Un regard sur la littérature, focusing on literary analysis for high school students (grades 7–11). In parallel, several of her poems were published in the literary magazine Liberté.

In 2018, Christiane Léaud released Lunaisons, a poetic suite accompanied by ink illustrations by Rita Ezrati. She also presented a collage exhibition titled Relier ce qui est disjoint at Atelier-Galerie Alain Piroir (Montreal). In 2021, she published Futur Antérieur, an artist’s book combining poetry and reproductions of collages, the originals forming an independent exhibition. Finally, Robert et moi (Fall 2020) was a major solo exhibition, featuring over forty collages — including a dozen large-format pieces — at the intersection of visual art and literature.

janine leroux-guillaume

Born in 1927 in Saint-Hermas (now Mirabel), Quebec, Janine Leroux-Guillaume became a major figure in Canadian contemporary printmaking. She trained at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal under renowned masters such as Albert Dumouchel and Alfred Pellan, graduating in 1954. In 1959, she travelled to Paris to work at the prestigious Atelier Lacourière-Frélaut, producing large-scale etchings and mezzotints from the late 1950s through the early 2000s. A dedicated teacher, she taught engraving and plastic arts at institutions including the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, UQAM, Université du Québec à Hull, and Cégep du Vieux-Montréal from the 1950s to the 1980s. Her work was exhibited in Canada, the United States, and Europe, and is held in major public collections such as the National Gallery of Canada, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. She passed away in Montreal in January 2018, shortly after the opening of a retrospective at the Centre d’art Diane-Dufresne.

Roy Lichtenstein

Emmanuel Radnitzky, better known as Man Ray, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. He is most well known for his avant-garde photography, in which he cast many well know figures of his time such as Kiki de Montparnasse. Although he is known for his photos, he also worked in other mediums and considered himself a painter. He was a major contributor to the Dadaist and surrealist movements.

He appropriated the photogram, a type of photo made without the use of a camera, and renamed them «rayographs». In 1920, he collaborated with Marcel Duchamp on his kinetic sculptures in New York. In that same year he also founded, along with Katherine Dreier, the Société Anonyme, which was an itinerant collection later to become the first museum of modern art in the US.

In 1925, along with Jean Arp, Max Ernst, André Masson, Joan Miró, and Pablo Picasso, Man Ray was part of the first Surrealist exhibition at the Galerie Pierre in Paris.

The artist passed away on the 29th of September 1997 in Manhattan.

jean-claude lussier

Born in Montreal, Jean-Claude Lussier is a self-taught photographer who began his professional career in 1984, quickly establishing himself as an internationally recognized fashion photographer based in Montreal. For over three decades, he has produced striking visual narratives for editorial campaigns featured in prestigious publications such as ELLE Québec, ELLE Canada, ELLE International, and Fashion Magazine. His distinctive style blends technical precision with a refined sense of composition, capturing both elegance and authenticity.

Lussier’s talent has been acknowledged through numerous awards, including several Prix LUX in categories such as editorial beauty and advertising between 2002 and 2007. After many years working from a studio in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal district, he relocated to the downtown area, transforming his new space into a hybrid studio-gallery. There, his large-format prints and framed works take on a new dimension, offering viewers an immersive and elevated experience of his photography.

Artists BY LAST NAME : m, n, o AND P.

David Maes

Born in Canada to a Canadian mother and a Dutch father, he moved to France in 1987, marking a new chapter in his artistic journey.

Trained as a painter, he discovered printmaking shortly after arriving in Paris, joining the renowned Lacourière-Frélaut workshop. His talent was quickly recognized: in 1990, he was awarded a grant from Quebec’s Ministry of Cultural Affairs, the Jury Prize from the Space Group of Korea in Seoul, and a special mention for the Lacourière Prize in Paris.

The following year, in 1991, he received recognition from the Grav’x Foundation in Paris. In 1992, he was selected as a resident artist at the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid—a stay that deeply influenced his work, notably through the light and contrasts of the South. He remained there until 1994.

In 1993, he earned an honorable mention at the National Printmaking Prize in Madrid, followed by the Jury Prize at the Third World Triennial of Prints in Chamalières in 1994. That same year, he left Madrid for the Paris region before settling in southern France, near Nîmes.

David Maes’s works have entered numerous public collections, including those of Air Canada (Montreal), the Picasso Museum (Antibes), the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Calcografía Nacional (Madrid), the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the City of Montreuil, Library and Archives Canada (Ottawa), and the Bibliothèque nationale du Québec.

françois-xavier marange

Born in Dreux, France, in 1948, François-Xavier Marange moved to Paris in the late 1950s, where he apprenticed in intaglio printmaking at the Atelier Leblanc under Paul Decottignies. During the 1970s, he worked at the renowned Lacourière-Frélaut and Maeght studios, printing for major artists such as Tàpies, Miró, and Zao Wou-Ki. In 1982, invited by Louis-Pierre Bougie, he relocated to Montreal and became one of the founding members of Atelier Circulaire, designing and building the studio’s first press and launching its tradition of open-studio Fridays.

Alongside his mastery of printmaking, Marange maintained a lifelong dedication to painting. His work was exhibited widely, with solo shows in Montreal, Québec City, Ottawa, Vienna, Paris, and Mallorca, and participation in over fifty group exhibitions, including the Toronto International Art Fair and the Île-de-France Engraving Biennial. François-Xavier Marange passed away in Montreal on October 8, 2012, leaving a lasting mark on both the French and Canadian art scenes.

marcel Mariën

Born in Antwerp in 1920, Marcel Mariën became a central figure in the Belgian Surrealist movement. At the age of 15, he began an apprenticeship with a photographer, and in 1937, inspired by the works of René Magritte, he joined the Brussels Surrealist group. A versatile artist, Mariën expressed himself through poetry, essays, collage, filmmaking, photography, and the creation of objects. In 1943, he published the first monograph on Magritte and, in 1954, founded the journal Les Lèvres Nues, later directing Le Ciel Bleu and contributing significantly to the documentation of Belgian Surrealism. In 1959, he created the provocative film L’Imitation du cinéma, which caused scandal and was banned. After a period abroad, including time spent in China in the 1960s, he returned to surrealist photography in the 1980s, producing striking, dreamlike nude portraits until his death in Brussels in 1993.

 Lauréat Marois

Born on April 15, 1949, in Saint-Éphrem-de-Beauce, Quebec, Lauréat Marois moved to Quebec City in 1967, where he has lived and worked ever since. He earned a degree in graphic communications, specializing in silkscreen, from the Quebec School of Fine Arts in 1971, followed by a teaching diploma in fine arts from Université Laval in 1972. Recognized as a significant postwar and contemporary Canadian artist, his vibrant silkscreen prints and paintings have attracted attention at auctions, with works such as Le Passage, Parc de la Mauricie achieving notable sales.

Marois’s art is characterized by a renewed figurative style and a mastery of silkscreen techniques, often applied to large-scale compositions integrated into architecture. Notable examples include Habitacle (1984) at the Saint-Michel metro station in Montreal and Le droit à un jardin (Arabesques no 2) (1996) for a healthcare facility. His works are represented in several public collections, including institutions in Vancouver and Ottawa.

pierre martin dit egide

Born in 1957 in Avignon, France, Pierre Martin dit Égide is a master printmaker specializing in burin engraving on copper. Now based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, he has developed a refined technique that explores the invisible forces underlying reality—such as electricity, the human body, and cosmic structures. His artistic approach seeks to unify the infinitely small, like cells, with the infinitely large, like galaxies, raising profound questions about human existence, social structures, and both the spiritual and physical dimensions of the world.

His works, often striking in both scale and concept, are notable for their precision and depth of thought. Among them are pieces such as Triptyque bâtons qui fument, Rupture Rouge, Possession, and Société civilisée?, which demonstrate technical mastery combined with conceptual richness. Through his engravings, Pierre Martin dit Égide invites viewers into a contemplative dialogue on energy, existence, and our place in the vast universe.

Roberto Matta

Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren was born on November 11, 1911, in Santiago, Chile, and is regarded as one of the most important contributors to the Surrealist and Expressionist movements. Initially trained in architecture at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, he left his studies in 1933 to settle in Paris. During his travels in Europe, he encountered leading figures such as Arshile Gorky, René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, André Breton, and Le Corbusier.

Matta is best known for his “inscapes” large-scale canvases that sought to give visual form to the human psyche, inspired by the writings of Freud and the concept of the psychic space as three-dimensional. His later works reflected the political tensions of the 1940s and 1950s, introducing imagery of machinery and distressed, fragmented figures. Throughout his long career, Matta bridged surrealist vision and political commentary. He died in Italy at the age of 91, leaving a profound legacy in 20th-century art.

Oeuvre l’instant

1977 | 65 x 50 cm | Aquatint and eau-forte

Nid de Noeds

1979 | 66 x 52 cm | Aquatint and eau-forte

Jean mcewen

Jean McEwen was born in Montreal in 1923 and passed away in the same city in 1999. Initially trained as a pharmacist, he soon devoted himself entirely to art, encouraged by Paul-Émile Borduas. In the 1950s, McEwen refined his mastery of painting and printmaking in both Paris and Montreal, drawing inspiration from the gestural abstraction of Jackson Pollock, the luminous colour fields of Mark Rothko, and the lyrical compositions of Jean-Paul Riopelle.

Over the decades, his abstract works characterized by layered, textured surfaces and vibrant interplay of colour—were exhibited in major cultural centres including Montreal, Toronto, New York, Paris, and London. His paintings and prints are held in significant public collections, such as the National Gallery of Canada, and have influenced generations of Canadian artists. In 1998, Jean McEwen was awarded the prestigious Prix Paul-Émile Borduas, a fitting recognition of his lifelong contribution to the visual arts.

claude mercier

Born on September 10, 1924, in Paris, Claude Mercier emerged as a leading French sculptor in the post-war era, renowned for his work in metal. After training at the École Boulle and later at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Marcel Gimond, he developed a distinctive sculptural language using materials such as aluminum, brass, copper, and stainless steel to create abstract forms of both strength and elegance. Encouraged early in his career by figures such as Henry Moore, Alberto Giacometti, and Brassaï, he took part in major contemporary art exhibitions from the 1960s onward.

His works are held in significant public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, the Fonds national d’art contemporain, and various regional collections in France and abroad. From the 1980s, Mercier divided his time between Paris and his studio-home in Yèvre-la-Ville, producing both monumental public sculptures and intimate “constructions” exploring balance, tension, and lyrical movement. In 2015, he was named an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters. Claude Mercier passed away on January 24, 2019, leaving a lasting legacy in abstract metal sculpture.

jean messagier

Jean Messagier was born in Paris in 1920 and grew up in Franche-Comté, France. After studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the late 1930s, he developed a style that bridged post-war abstraction and lyrical painting, blending gestural freedom with a deep sensitivity to nature. Associated at times with lyrical abstraction, Art Informel, and even the New Figuration, Messagier resisted strict categorization, preferring a poetic, instinctive approach to image-making.

His works, often painted with sweeping strokes and vivid colour harmonies, evoke landscapes, seasons, and the sensory impressions of his surroundings. Throughout his career, he exhibited widely in France and internationally—in Paris, Geneva, New York, Tokyo, and beyond—and represented France at major biennials. His paintings and graphic works are held in significant public collections, including the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris. Jean Messagier passed away in 1999, leaving behind a body of work that celebrates the vitality and lyricism of nature.

 David Moore

Born in Dublin, David Moore moved to Montreal in his early twenties. He graduated from the École des beaux-arts de Montréal and earned a master’s degree in art education from Concordia University. From 1970 to 2006, he taught at Concordia, where he influenced generations of artists through his commitment to both technical mastery and creative exploration.

Moore’s work spans printmaking, painting, and drawing. Among his notable pieces exhibited at the Atelier-Galerie A. Piroir are Paysage urbain, Lumière d’hiver, and Variation en bleu. These works reveal his refined approach to composition, the interplay of colour and texture, and a subtle balance between abstraction and representation. His art has been shown in solo and group exhibitions across Quebec and Canada and is held in several public and private collections. By uniting a rigorous academic background with openness to experimentation, David Moore has made a lasting contribution to Montreal’s contemporary art scene.

Martin Müller-Reinhart

Martin Müller-Reinhart was born in Soleure, Switzerland, in 1954 and has lived and worked in Paris since 1977. His artistic practice moves fluidly between painting, etching, and sculptural elements, using each medium to construct visual spaces defined largely by lines and flat surfaces. This interplay creates environments where form, light, and space converge, offering a meeting ground for distinct yet harmonious elements.

In addition to his studio work, Müller-Reinhart is known for large-scale installations in churches and public spaces, designed to foster meditative and contemplative atmospheres. Notable examples include his 1989 installation in the chapel of Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière in Paris and the 2009 installation at the Church of Gesù in Montreal. Exhibited internationally, his work invites viewers to inhabit a space where visual restraint and structural clarity evoke both serenity and reflection.

marc-antoine nadeau

Marc-Antoine Nadeau, a Montreal-born printmaker and painter (1943), studied painting and printmaking at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, learning under Albert Dumouchel, a key figure in modern Canadian printmaking. In the mid-1960s, he trained further at the Atelier libre de recherches graphiques, a hub for artistic experimentation, where he refined his skills in silkscreen and etching. Influenced by Montreal’s avant-garde, Nadeau developed a visual language combining technical precision with rich textures. His work has been exhibited in solo and group shows and is held in both public and private collections. Rooted in tradition yet open to contemporary approaches, Nadeau has made a significant contribution to the vitality of Canadian printmaking.

georges nadra

Georges Nadra (born 1959) is a visual artist of Lebanese origin. After living in Lebanon until 1986, he moved to France, where he now divides his time between Paris and Burgundy. Since 1990, he has developed a rigorous body of work exploring memory, exile, and materiality through painting, installation, and mixed media. His work has been the subject of numerous major solo and group exhibitions in galleries and institutions, notably in France, Canada, Switzerland, and Germany. Nadra’s pieces have been shown in venues such as Galerie 5 in Paris and the Canadian Cultural Centre, and are part of both public and private collections. His practice unfolds in a space where abstraction meets the trace, and where the pictorial gesture becomes a form of language.

 Johny Ngbwa

Johny Hycinte Ngbwa, born in 1995 in Cameroon, moved to Italy in 2005. Passionate about art from an early age, he enrolled in 2009 at the State Institute of Art in Forlì, where he earned a Master of Arts diploma and a high school diploma in pictorial decoration and restoration. In 2014, he entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino, specializing in graphic arts. In 2020, he obtained a specialist degree in publishing and illustration for graphic arts. A versatile artist, his work explores the connections between traditional techniques and contemporary visual languages. Alongside his artistic practice, he serves as a teacher within the MIUR (Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research). His career reflects a continuous commitment to knowledge transmission and intercultural dialogue.

Bert-Johnny Nilsson

Bert-Johnny Nilsson (1934–2004), born in Kristianstad, Sweden, was a post-war and contemporary painter and illustrator celebrated for his surreal motifs tinged with macabre eroticism and theatrical horror atmospheres. Trained in graphic arts, he produced compositions featuring pale, often wounded or blood-covered female figures, set within unsettling yet poetic environments. Over time, his artistic focus shifted towards cosmic imagery, depicting visions of Earth under the threat of impending catastrophes. His works are part of several major Swedish public collections, including the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Malmö Museum, Västerås Art Museum, Norrköping Art Museum, and Ystad Art Museum. He also has more than twenty recorded auction sales to his name.

françois oberfalcer

François Oberfalcer (1939, South Bohemia – 2017, La Tour-du-Pin) was a Czech artist, better known in his homeland than in France. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (1954-1958) and the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (1958-1964). Following the 1968 Prague events, he sought refuge in France, first in Gagny, then in La Tour-du-Pin from 1979, where he devoted himself fully to printmaking: etching, aquatint, drypoint, and lithography. He also mastered watercolor, tapestry, and created stained glass for the La Tour-du-Pin town hall. A committed teacher, he founded the Ateliers d’Activités Artistiques and led numerous workshops in France and abroad. A member of the renowned Hollar Association of Czech Graphic Artists since 2004, he exhibited widely in France, Italy, and the Czech Republic, including the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles. His works are held in the BnF collections.

Omen

OMEN is a Montreal-based graffiti artist celebrated for his distinctive style blending graffiti and street art. Active since the 1990s, he has become a key figure in the Canadian urban art scene. Working primarily with spray paint, OMEN is known for his black-and-white works with a “haunted” aesthetic, marked by strong use of negative space and bold linear elements. His pieces appear both on city walls and in gallery spaces, exploring the tension between shadow and light, abstraction and figuration. Over the years, OMEN has taken part in numerous art projects, group exhibitions, and public commissions, helping to reshape the perception of graffiti as a form of contemporary art.

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