One of Canada's brightest art stars has painted himself into a corner of Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George.
Dan Brault was one of only two Canadians to make the 100 Painters Of Tomorrow list compiled by publishing house Thames & Hudson and author Kurt Beers, selected from a long-list of more than 4,300 artists from around the world. It was gathered into a popular exhibition in New York as well as the bestselling book.
This was emblematic but only one example of the attention Brault has earned. He is a popular feature artist in his home province of Quebec, with an international resume. George Harris, the gallery's chief curator, obviously knew of this influential painter, but discovered that Brault was without any exhibition experience on the westerns side of Canada.
Harris also discovered an excited willingness from Brault to make Prince George his debut city on the sunset side of the country.
On Thursday, the gallery will open its doors to an introductory retrospective of Brault's work, a show entitled Atomic Love.
"What we set out to do was to select some paintings, mainly larger works, from the recent past," Brault told The Citizen. "So, in a way, it is kind of a small survey of the last five years which have been quite important for me.
"I have been painting for almost 20 years now and the last five years have been more positive both in terms of critical reception of the work but also on a more personal level and in the way I make the paintings," Brault added. "I'm always looking for ways to paint that can spark some kind of gravitas that can resonate with the life of people in a poetical, joyful and hopefully captivating way. I'm not so much interested in the grand narratives such as political, social, environmental ones. I focus more on the inside, on what might still be in us from our youth: A kind of naive freedom. It's not that I'm not aware of the mud that we're stuck in but it's just that I find beauty, mischief, nature, the stars, water, love, freedom and art so much more fascinating. I think my work relates to this view in some ways. And I think it's my way of dealing with this harsh world and my very humble way of trying to improve it."
The resulting paintings have been called dreamlike for their combination of easily recognizable images that end up together in a surreal fantasy of colours and thoughts. Each one is a marvelous impossibility that begs the questions "why not?" and "what might this mean?" to the viewer. It might evoke bemusement and confusion for the audience, but usually with a smile. Critics have called Brault's paintings almost musical in their freedom to dance between reality and dream.
"I hope the people of Prince George that comes to see the work will have fun doing it and will bring back home some of that freedom," Brault said. "Hopefully, it will sparks marvellous discussions, positive memories and exciting new ideas that can brighten their day. I think that kids will like the show. They are my favourite critics."
Brault confirmed that this "is indeed the first time that I show my work in Western Canada," and he was excited to break that new ground, meet that new audience.
"It's always exciting to show works to new public, and also a bit nerve wracking, but I'm confident that Mr. Harris as asked me to show my work because he saw something in my work that could surprise and generate discussion with the art lovers of Prince George and tourists. That is, anyways, my hopes."
Brault will be at Two Rivers in person to discuss his exhibition and talk about his artistic process. The public is invited to meet him and see Atomic Love for the first time at a free reception Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
The reception is also the launch of ContraStructural, the latest exhibition by sculptor/photographer Robert Dyson.
