Barry Allikas, Marcel Barbeau, Pierre Julien
En Marge

April 8 to May 6, 2017

Galerie Nicolas Robert is pleased to present the exhibition En marge, a collective exhibition with the works of Barry Allikas, Marcel Barbeau and Pierre Julien. En Marge proposes a dialogue between three generations that reflect the notion of boundary and limit in these bodies of works, divergent but complementary. If this theme is echoed in the production of each of the artists presented, their resonance is felt in a shared formal abstract and geometric aesthetic.

Barry Allikas was born in Montreal, and studied Cinema at Dawson College. Shortly thereafter he began painting. His first solo show was in 1979, and since then he has exhibited across Canada, as well as in France, Germany, Mexico and New York. His work is in many important collections, including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts; Musée National du Québec; Hydro-Quebec; Caisse de Depot; Banque National; and Giverny Capital. He currently lives and works in Montreal, and is represented by Division Gallery (Montreal).

Born on February 18, 1925 in Montreal, Marcel Barbeau studied furniture design at the École du Meuble in Montreal, where he was introduced to modern art by his professor, the painter Paul-Émile Borduas. His work, both purified and expressive, belongs to the universe of baroque. It evolves rapidly and bears witness to a double Apollinian and Dionysian vision, in the words of Caroline Gagnon.

The question of abstraction is essential in the practice of the Montreal artist Pierre Julien. By creating fictitious spaces, although not figurative, his work question the fortuitous and unlikely encounters between graphic elements and color combinations, thus generating curious, vibrant, and lyrical universes. On a colored background are laid textured masses that seem weightless, moving away and detaching themselves from this impalpable space. Acting as abstract portraits of surrounding elements, they oscillate through a microcosm of amalgams of surprising colors, participating in a fragile and energetic three-dimensionality.