MONTREAL/May 5, 2005—
On Wednesday, May 11, at 5:30 p.m., at the Hôtel Gault (449, rue Sainte-Hélène) Christopher Jackson, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, will host a reception to highlight the achievements of three exceptional artists who are all faculty members in the Department of Studio Arts. Being honoured are Raymonde April, who won the Prix du Québec, Prix Paul-Émile Borduas (2003), Françoise Sullivan, this year’s recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, and Irene Whittome who was named an Officer of the Order of Canada (2005).
Raymonde April
After completing her studies at École des arts visuels de l’Université Laval, Raymonde April went on to specialize in photography and become one of Canada’s most influential and trend setting photographers. Since the 1970s, she has developed a personal style that captures images of the everyday through autobiographical, documentary, fictional, and theatrical frames using a contrast of photographic techniques that illustrate either fixed moments in time or sequences of time. She lives and works in Montreal and has taught photography at Concordia University since 1985 and in the Faculty of Fine Arts since 1995. Her work has been exhibited extensively in Canada and abroad, and major solo exhibitions include Voyage dans le monde des choses, organised by the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in 1986, Les Fleuves invisibles, produced by the Musée d’art de Joliette in 1997 and toured in Canada and France until 2000, and Tout embrasser, presented at the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery of Concordia University in 2001. With the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas, Raymonde April now joins Françoise Sullivan (1987) and Irene Whittome (1997), along with ten other artists affiliated with Concordia University, who are part this prestigious group of Quebec artists whose entire oeuvre is recognized as significant and influential.
Françoise Sullivan
Françoise Sullivan, a well-known figure in the Quebec arts community, is a painter whose body of work includes other disciplines such as dance and sculpture. After completing her studies at L’École des Beaux-arts in Montreal, Sullivan went to New York to study modern dance. She later became a member of the Automatiste group, signing the Refus Global in 1948. Recognized for her avant-guard approach to contemporary dance during the 1940s and 1950s, she turned to abstract sculpture in the 1960s and then conceptual art in the 1970s. Since the 1980s, Françoise Sullivan’s approach to painting has varied from abstract, shaped canvas she calls “tondos” to works based on colour and gesture. She has been sharing her artistic knowledge with Concordia University students since 1977. Winning the Governor General’s Award is just one of the many accolades Françoise Sullivan has received throughout her career. Other notable distinctions include the Prix Borduas (1987) and honorary doctorates from both York University (1998) and Université du Québec à Montréal (2000) and becoming a member of both the Order of Canada (2001) and the Order of Quebec (2002). Ms Sullivan also sits on the board of the Conseil des Arts de Montréal and of Concordia University’s Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery. Her current research project is entitled “Possibility and Place of Painting in a Time of Electronic Growth.”
Irene Whittome
An internationally renowned multi-media artist, Irene Whittome possesses a distinct style that is the hallmark of her installations, prints, sculptures and paintings. Her work can be found in influential private and public collections around the world. In 1974 Irene Whittome arrived at Concordia University and no sooner developed the “Open Media” program, which encourages and supports students whose artistic visions fall outside the accepted notions of traditional fine arts. In addition to her important teaching career, Irene Whittome developed an international reputation as a multi-media artist whose installations explore the concepts of time, memory, origins of man and of the universe, and the interplay between internal and external interpretations of the spaces she creates. Like her two colleagues, she boasts many honours including the Victor-Martyn Staunton Award from the Canada Council for the Arts (1990-1991), the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2002), and an honorary doctorate from Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (2002).
The reception is by invitation only. For more information about this event or the three artists, please contact Lina Uberti, Communications and Special Projects Advisor, Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University at (514) 848-2424 ext. 4606 or by e-mail at lina.uberti@concordia.ca .
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Source :
Tanya Churchmuch
Senior Media Relations Advisor
Concordia University
