Whistler's Audain Art Museum to immerse West Coast audiences in the world of Jean Paul Riopelle with major exhibition from the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

WHISTLER, BC, Oct. 19, 2021 /CNW/ - The Audain Art Museum presents Riopelle: The Call of Northern Landscapes and Indigenous Cultures, a major exhibition dedicated to Quebec's Jean Paul Riopelle (1923-2002). This ambitious exhibition for the Audain Art Museum (AAM) will envelop viewers in Riopelle's approach to artistic production, providing an opportunity to become steeped in the inspiration behind the work of one of Canada's most internationally recognized artists of the 20^th century.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Jean Paul Riopelle established himself in Paris as one of the leading Western artists of the post-World War II cultural avant-garde. This exhibition brings together rarely seen paintings, prints and sculptures from the 1970s, a lesser known period of Riopelle's artistic career. These works represent a fascinating development in Riopelle's oeuvre as he begins to delve into subject matter from a distinctly North American perspective, with direct references to snow and ice-covered northern landscapes while also looking to Indigenous art for inspiration. In many ways, the artist was pushing past the limits of his earlier work, that are often considered abstract, to reveal the subjective impetus behind them.

"With a vision of providing access to the highest quality historic and contemporary art from BC, across Canada, and around the world, the Audain Art Museum is dedicated to engaging in cross-cultural conversations" explains Dr. Curtis Collins, Director & Chief Curator of the AAM. "This complex exhibition does exactly that, drawing strong connections to the Museum's Permanent Collection of Indigenous art and repertoire of historic and contemporary special exhibitions. Our goal is that this exhibition will encourage important dialogue about the trajectory of artistic production and collecting in Canada."

The exhibition is developed, organized and circulated by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. It was curated by guest curators Andréanne Roy and Yseult Riopelle as well as by Jacques Des Rochers, Curator of Quebec and Canadian Art (before 1945), MMFA.

"The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is delighted that the Audain Art Museum will be the first venue to host its travelling exhibition dedicated to Jean Paul Riopelle and his interest in nordicity and Indigenous cultures," explains Stéphane Aquin, Director, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. "Known for the wealth of Canadian and Indigenous art in its collection, the Audain Art Museum is just the place to showcase the rich cultural diversity in the work of the great Quebec artist and his Indigenous peers."

The exhibition was made possible by Presenting Sponsor: The Audain Foundation, Partners of the Canadian Tour: the Government of Canada and the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation, Major Sponsors: BMO and Heffel Fine Art Auction House, Supporting Sponsor: Dentons, Government Partner: Resort Municipality of Whistler and Hotel Partner: Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

Media Preview
Date: Thursday, October 21
Time: 3:00pm
Location: Audain Art Museum
4350 Blackcomb Way, Whistler
RSVP: [email protected]

About the Audain Art Museum
The Audain Art Museum is grateful to be on the shared, unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation and Lil̓wat7úl (Lil'wat) Nation. Established in 2016, the Museum was founded via a major philanthropic gift of Michael Audain and Yoshiko Karasawa. The Permanent Collection is focused on the art of British Columbia, exemplifying the richness of cultural difference in Canada. Highlights include hereditary Haida Chief James Hart's The Dance Screen, an exceptional collection of historical and contemporary Indigenous art, a comprehensive selection of paintings by Emily Carr and a brilliant range of works by Vancouver's photo-conceptualists. The Museum hosts three temporary exhibitions per year that feature artists and collections of national as well as international significance. 

About Jean Paul Riopelle
Jean Paul Riopelle (Montreal, 1923 – Isle-aux-Grues, 2002) is recognized as one of the most important and prolific Canadian artists of the 20th century. He studied at the École du Meuble de Montréal, where he met painter Paul-Émile Borduas and the Automatistes, with whom he signed the Refus global manifesto in 1948. While living in Paris, he met the Surrealists and art collector Georges Duthuit, who sparked his interest in Indigenous art and cultures. His work in the 1970s was influenced by a number of expeditions to Nunavik and Nunavut. Today, Riopelle is renowned worldwide, and his work is found in the public collections of over 60 cities, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York; the Center Pompidou in Paris; and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC. The MMFA, which owns 370 of the artist's works, including 27 paintings, previously dedicated two major solo exhibitions to him in 1991 and 2002. The Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation was created in 2019 to preserve, promote and disseminate the artist's work and to celebrate Riopelle's contribution to the history of international art as well as his immense artistic legacy, particularly in regard to the centenary of his birth in 2023.

SOURCE Audain Art Museum

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