5155 Rue D'Iberville

Ludovic Cléroux 

Curator, David Elliott

That’s a big part of what painters do. Sometimes, inevitably the rooms and the things in the rooms become the subject matter, providing us with an indelible record of the spaces within which lives are lived. This exhibition is a series of oil paintings documenting Ludovic Cléroux’s studio and living space in a converted industrial building at the corner of Rue d’Iberville and Rue Masson in Montreal.

It is a modern, existential space, a brutalist concrete shell, few frills or comforts, just the bric-a-brac of a cheap, contemporary working environment; cardboard boxes, rough tables and chairs, drips of paint and glue, foam and plastic packing material, electrical and electronic gadgets, extension cords, large windows, commercial rather than domestic lighting. Working exclusively from observation, each day, each week, each instant he is forced to accommodate the changing conditions of his surroundings. In the process of painting and re-painting, a gently shifting world of light becomes woven into the fabric of the canvases. The figure, which would necessarily predominate any composition, is avoided in favor of the absorbing drama of a solitary room.

The most astonishing aspect of Ludovic Cléroux’s work is his ability to capture light and how in this sensitivity towards light, he manages to deal with the passage of time, creating spaces of great profundity, reservoirs for intense perception, thought and measure. A world that is direct and sensual but also highly conceptual and speculative.

- David Elliott

Documentation by Guy L'Heureux