Pouliot started out by experimenting with various media including photography, video and sound, then gained a reputation for his spectacular pieces, steeped in sensibility and poetry, that incorporate decorative elements, furniture and architecture, all put to new use.
The exhibition showcases a series of ten serigraphs, a group of three sculptures—Empire : possessif, Eastlake : intransigeant and Régence monomaniaque, from 2007—and a major architectural installation, Louis XVI : indifférent, 2008. In these works, Pouliot continues to explore anthropomorphic domestic forms through pieces inspired by eighteenth and nineteenth-century furniture. As curator Mark Lanctôt explains, “The isolation (or alienation) of contemporary society is echoed in disjointed, numbing settings and in furniture closed in on itself, precluding any possibility of normal use, and afflicted with excrescences, forced linkages and disarticulations.” Pouliot urges us to take a look at our society and its decadence, while leading us through a spellbinding visual, emotional and kinesthetic experience.
Biography
Born in Sainte-Justine-de-Newton, Québec, in 1978, Yannick Pouliot lives and works in Saint-Casimir-de-Portneuf. After studies in horticulture (in Saint-Hyacinthe), he originally planned to go into small-scale farming before finally opting for a career in art. He has a BFA from Université Laval, as well as training in carpentry. His contribution to the 2003 Manif d’art 2 event in Québec City launched him onto the art scene and introduced him to the public, which took to his work right away. The next year, he was invited to participate in Artefact 2004, and was given the stamp of approval by major museums. His work Le Courtisan was purchased by the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and he was invited by the Musée d’art contemporain to take part in the exhibition L’Envers des apparences in 2005. He also earned critical acclaim: voted one of the year’s top picks by the newspaper La Presse in 2004, featured in the 2005 year-end roundups in the weeklies Voir and Ici, singled out for 2003 “work of the year” in the twentieth-anniversary edition of Espace sculpture magazine, rated a 2008 visual arts “Noisemaker” by Hour and a “sure thing” for winter 2008 by Voir, and profiled in the February 2008 edition of L’Actualité magazine.
What the critics are saying
Picture this and tell me it isn’t an artistic experience that will change your life.
Isa Tousignant, Hour
Yannick Pouliot, 29 ans, mélange les disciplines (l’architecture, la sculpture, la photographie, le son) dans des œuvres qui posent un regard sur notre société et sur sa décadence.
André Ducharme, L’Actualité
Yannick Pouliot, une incroyable découverte
Rafaële Germain, Je l’ai vu à la radio, Radio-Canada
L’artiste de Saint-Casimir-de-Portneuf poursuit ainsi son entreprise de séduction par la démonstration du travail bien fait et le plaisir des formes inventées.
Nathalie Côté, Le Soleil