Exhibition Éclipse – Montréal en lumière 2014.

An exhibition of René Derouin’s latest works, organized as part of the 15th edition of the MONTREAL EN LUMIÈRE festival, took place from February 13 to May 11, 2014. Titled Éclipse, featuring new works, produced in 2012 and 2013, revolving around the theme of light.

ÉCLIPSE 2014

Since the very early days of my career, I have developed a body of work based on cross-pollination, in order to reflect the Québec identity and society. My artistic journey has been guided by a resolutely continentalist approach as I have explored the territories of our being “American” – in other words, our belonging to this continent – following a north-south axis.

The exhibition ÉCLIPSE 2014 is the product of my investigation of light. These works were made using different types of Japanese and French paper which I cut out in order to let light shine through.

In my eyes, the word ÉCLIPSE has an enigmatic, inspiring meaning. Various avenues of interpretation can be explored: light/darkness, disappear/reappear, leave/return from afar, shadow of the lunar orbit. Through the forms of the circle and the unbroken line, I wanted to create an iconography constructed with mixed signs arising out of the diversity of cultures I belong to. These signs relating to air and earth are brought together here in a light-based work with a baroque spirit.

An eclipse is born of a continuous movement, like the ongoing movement from life towards death. It represents the moment that occurs in the perpetually renewed cycle of orbits, when the Sun temporarily disappears behind the Moon, and then becomes once again visible from the Earth, our anchor point.

The symbol of the eagle hovers over this exhibition. Its piercing gaze, its predilection for altitude and its boundless aerial vision are the embodiment of a sense of pride and independence.

René Derouin, multidisciplinary artist and rebel