Yvan Genest’s vibrant, colourful and extraordinary collection, Equinox, debuted last night at Alpha Art Gallery. This dream-like collection is a representation of the moment of the year, at the beginning of spring and fall, when day and night are the same in length. For Genest, equinox is also an inner change of season – the happening of autumn in his life as a painter.
Self-taught artist, Yvan Genest, has been painting for over 30 years and has collections displayed internationally including exhibitions in Mexico and Paris. His more than 7000 works are inspired by movements of expressionism and free-form figurative painting, as well as by figures such as Joseph Beuys and Francis Bacon.
He says, “A painting is a door, a passage I discovered towards the unconscious, above and beyond the world of mere appearances. Beyond this door, the painter acts as a fashion designer for the soul.”
Genest has very much taken the route of iconography where the audience finds meaning by interpreting symbols and shapes within his paintings. As a result of his whimsical and imaginative technique, the paintings are constantly communicating something new. Each time you pass by a particular painting you’re surprised by a new discovery of something that you may have not noticed before.
“These people erupt in my paintings like graffitis. They never stop. They come and go and carry with them their emotions and words, leaving a wake of feelings and ideas. That’s what I paint.” These feelings and ideas that Genest speaks of are communicated through colour and shape crafted by acrylic, oil, tempera, etching and various other mediums.
Experience the mystical spell of Genest’s Equinox at Alpha Art Gallery now until October 8th!
