parcours

The notion of identity in sociology contains the set of problems relating the collective and the individual, social determinism and individual uniqueness. It is not yet possible to discuss this concept without mentioning the mainstream of sociology and its different approaches

Jean-Pierre Lafrance is known as a painter and for good reason; his paintings have stood out for over the past 25 years. And not just in Quebec. However, what some art lovers know less about him is that he is also a sculptor and he does, at times, the installations. Not to mention the engravings and drawings. A few years ago, he designed a series of electrical works which, depending on the source of light, natural daylight or artificial light, the image would be different. As a creator, he likes the challenge imposed by the monumental works. And when the opportunity presents itself, and this, as in painting and sculpture, he plunges into public projects with eagerness. One of his major works (painting) can be seen in the lobby of the headquarters of the HYPERLINK « http://www.google.ca/ » International Air Transport Association IATA, Montreal. There is also a large bas-relief in Boucherville’s Multifunctional Centre and a monumental sculpture in Senneterre, to only mention a few.

This fall, he is presenting several exhibitions: one in Montreal, two in Toronto, another in New York and finally a group exhibition in Montreal. And what is interesting with his current production is the momentum that has animated, or should I say, propelled him in achieving the recent works. He has been especially intensive in the last year and it shows in each painting, each sculpture as if there was urgency. The sculpture was his starting point, his initial inspiration. The trigger occurred while he was working on a series of sculptures with the human head as a theme. The paintings that followed were done with the same energy and with substance, if not more abundant than in previous series, certainly more meaningful to him. And for good reason! In this series especially, although this is also true for all of his production, matter reveals itself as a whole: as a symbol of life and death, a deep and personal aspect of identity, his connection with matter is fundamental. Even more so in his recent work.

Identity

Why the head? This was the starting point. For the artist, it referred to identity cards with a photo. This reasoning rapidly took a direction towards a complex inner world. As if Jean-Pierre Lafrance did not think with words … of course, but not like ordinary mortals … For him, it’s like his reflections, his thoughts passed through his feelings, and his impulses were like filters. Inevitably, this brings him back to himself, as if somewhere inside him, he had left a space in which accumulated a multitude of states, lived moments that fit into each other in endless combinations. A library of various emotions, more or less refined, sometimes conscious, often not, and which, in turn, contained series of sophisticated and contradictory impressions ultimately putting into action his cognitive and sensory senses. What some could call experience, intimate. For Lafrance, this takes the form of a multilayer experience where he connects with life. A sum. That is precisely what he expresses with great intensity and passion in each of the paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints that leave his studio. Jean-Pierre Lafrance is curious, he wants to learn, to see, to be surprised, again, all the time. It is always in a state of necessity and urgency. This singular state of mind allows him to face some extreme situations with more eagerness than fear, like three years ago, when he had to have heart surgery, he was told just before that he may need a new heart … He, who sometimes, from his home on the shores of the Richelieu River, feels fuzziness about the river… The relationship between his body and the outside world is very solid … And indeed, his series on the identity expresses the unique relationship between his job, his life, his world in its reality. It expresses above all his experience, his life. As if he is closing the loop. Each of his works in this series is like a view of his inner being, and despite the suggestiveness that involves painting with such proximity to oneself, his greatest achievement is to do it with a certain amount of objectivity, as a clear observation of the present. From this gushes out pleasurable, explosive, angry and happy states of being. As if inviting us to share a great feast. A feast to be. A wedding of identity… Unvarnished. Just between us and him …

Multidisciplinary, this aspect gives his approach a particular dimension because each discipline draws from another. And his paintings are enriched by his sculptures printmaking, from big to small, and vice versa … His production is important, he works every day and never fails to have a project in view and that is when he is not busy building or expanding a house, a workshop for him, for one of his children or a friend. Inexhaustible! Jean-Pierre Lafrance has an insatiable appetite for creating!