About Marc Séguin:

Originally from Ottawa, Marc Séguin lives and works between Montreal and New York. Since his first solo exhibition in 1996, his work has been presented in Madrid, Barcelona, Venice, Berlin, Cologne, Brussels, New York, Chicago and Florida while participating in international art fairs such as the Miami Basel. He is currently represented by several galleries including Corkin Gallery in Toronto as well as Envoy Gallery in New York. (Bio)

Art takes time. It takes time to create, and it takes time to experiment as well. If the artist creates himself while he paints, I guess the spectator creates himself while he takes some time to examine a piece of art. Or maybe it’s the other way around. One doesn’t take the time to watch a film or read a book : rather, one gives some of his time to experiment with a piece of art (DeLillo plays with this idea when he writes about Douglas Gordon’s 24 Hours Psycho). Maybe art has something to do with a dance between sacrifice and gift : one sacrifices a part of his life and, in return, is given the gift of himself through artistic journeys.

Here’s an example. Just quickly surfing the web, browsing through hundreds of pictures, one would missed the fact that the above painting was created with tar, real feathers and real butterflies (all glued to the canvas). The painting is huge : the crow hanging from the Pope’s necklace is real.

Here’s an excerpt from a 2008 interview with Marc Séguin:

In addition to the road kill series you have the pope series. Is there a correlation between the two of them besides the material that you use?

Maybe. I’m really too close to all these series to reflect on it, or it’s for people like you to find a link. I’m sure it makes sense somewhere, with the use of the use of the symbol of the crow, with the idea of infallibility of the pope in the Roman Catholic Church. There’s questions there, because in that way it addresses serious issues.

Serious issues being what?

Infallibility, or the fact that we’re living in this era where we can’t question what the Roman Catholic church does, but we can question what the Quran says or what the Muslim people do, or the Buddhists or what the Chinese do, but we never question ourselves. Dogma is a very dangerous thing. They’re supposed to stand for modesty, poverty, and whatever, and here they are—posing like peacocks. They’re blown up as these big statues, presenting themselves as bigger than life, or more important than their subjects.

And here they’re tarred and feathered.

They’re tarred and feathered because it was a way, back in the old days, to tell when somebody was wrong. They’d turn them out of the city and they could be recognized for months or years, because they were tarred and feathered. (NY Art Beat: “Death Becomes Him: The Art of Marc Seguin” by Amanda Scigaj, Oct. 29th, 2008)

See more of his work at the Simon Blais Gallery (Montreal) and Charest-Weinberg Gallery (Miami). The Canadian Art website has a slideshow about recent paintings by Marc Séguin.

“Rimmington combines beautiful and disturbing elements in this painting, which is an important example of Surrealist art by a female British artist. The work shows the artist’s interest in metamorphosis, featuring stages from a butterfly’s life cycle. The species depicted can all be found in Britain. They are, clockwise from the top right, the Ringlet, Peacock, Wall Brown and Red Admiral butterflies. The exquisitely painted butterflies contrast with the more disquieting imagery of caterpillars emerging from the exposed palm of the hand. The veins inside the hand and wrist have been transformed into curving plant tendrils.”

About Edith Rimmington:

“Rimmington was born in Leicester and joined the British Surrealist Group in 1937. She exhibited regularly with the Surrealists and practiced automatic writing and drawing, with some of her poems appearing in Surrealist publications. Rimmington’s paintings are noted for their delicacy and the precise application of paint.”

Artist’s statement: “So what is butoh? Dance? Performance art? Meditative access to a place beyond thought? Perhaps all of these, and more.

It originated in Japan as avant-garde performance embracing a full release of emotion. Butoh reveals the inner world in movement ranging from wild physicality to meditative stillness, non-verbal expression tapping deeply into the unconscious.

I find my own spiritual place and peace in nature, relishing the presence of others who can accompany me in silent communion.

So I invited butoh dancers to explore sites that encourage a natural connection. I went into a reflexive state, camera in hand, reacting rather than directing as my participants tuned in.” (read more).