Lorenzo Dupuis: En marchant - Walk Your Children to School
Reception: Saturday, March 31st, 2-4pm
March 31st - April 19th, 2012
The title of this exhibition may elicit a second glance, however, in the context of the artist and his work it makes perfect sense. Gone are the big marks, strong colours and thick paint of a few years ago and in their place Lorenzo has very patiently substituted an organization of small, painterly marks in soft greys and muted earthen tones that, in turn, coalesce into shapes and patterns that subtly reference nature’s geometry. Like walking your children to school, the viewer will have to slow his pace to capture the fullness of the visual experience.

Some thoughts on Lorenzo's new work...

I first saw Lorenzo's paintings when I was an undergraduate thirty years ago - in an exhibition in the early 1980s at the University of Saskatchewan's Snelgrove Gallery. The paintings in that show had mostly been made at a workshop at Emma Lake under the influence (or badgering) of New York painter Stanley Boxer. Otto Rogers took us downstairs from our painting class to see the show and I remember Lorenzo's paintings - their all over "pats" of paint and vague almost landscape divisions of colour. At the time they seemed to me to be too oddball, too reduced, too personal. Strange how I thought those qualities were negatives. At a talk Boxer gave at the Mendel Art Gallery, Lorenzo was introduced and it was obvious that Boxer had taken him under his wing. And despite being a kid myself I could recognize Lorenzo's youthful enthusiasm and how immersed he was in painting.

Through a series of coincidences - largely by working at The Gallery / Art Placement and handling and showing Lorenzo's work - I've had the opportunity to get snapshot views of Lorenzo's work throughout the late 1980s to the present - often going to his various studios to look at new work, pick work for shows and return old work. Its rare to get that sort of inside look at an artist's work over that sort of time span - and it reveals the true character of an artist.

Lorenzo settled into a career teaching and solidly maintained his studio practice and he has had a respectable collection and exhibition history. But as he has approached turning 60 he has, in the last year or so, pushed his art beyond its self-defined boundary. And it's a remarkable and inspiring thing to witness. I'd say that now he doesn't give a damn but that would put seemingly disrespectful words into Lorenzo mouth - he'd say it in a much more sensitive and articulate way. Maybe its that he's painting for himself rather than a public audience? In any case his wonderful new works somehow complete the circle embracing the oddball, the reduced and the personal and point to a whole new beginning for Lorenzo.

Jonathan Forrest, March 2012

Lorenzo Dupuis would like to thank Canadian Heritage / Patrimoine Canadien, Bureau du Secretaire Provincial, and the Saskatchewan Arts Board for their generous financial support that enabled him to produce this new body of work.

Lorenzo Dupuis studio images 2012:

Exhibition installation shots 2012: