benoit leroux
St-Jacques-le-Mineur, Quebec
Benoît Leroux wishes to bring a bit of magic into an otherwise senseless world. His art, mainly figurative and often symbolic, deals with human matters.
Message
Benoît Leroux is a painter from the Montreal area, having produced over 700 works, about fifty of which are in private collections.
Oil painting and dry pastels are his preferred mediums. He has four solo exhibitions to his credit and has participated in four other group exhibitions.
Benoît Leroux's journey also includes theater, poetry, clowning, philosophy, and engineering.
He acts as an activist in several social causes: he created Allo-Poly, a live humorous talk show concept in reaction to the Polytechnique tragedy; he is involved against the establishment of the Magniola factory in Estrie due to the pollution it would generate; he climbed the Jacques Cartier Bridge for the cause of fathers, following the loss of custody of his children.
He made a living as a professional computer programmer in Montreal and California. Now, he is fully dedicated to visual arts, a long-conceived and prepared project.
Benoît Leroux wishes to bring a bit of magic into an otherwise senseless world. His art, mainly figurative and often symbolic, deals with human matters. He is currently preparing his next thematic solo exhibition entitled Catastrophes, a pressing topic that affects the entire planet.
Statement
From a public entertainer, I quickly transitioned to philosophy, then to science and technology.
My art is mostly figurative. I paint in oil and draw with dry pastels. I strive to reproduce the world in a way that engages the observer's faith and stimulates their imagination, so it brings the painting to life.
My work involves capturing the idea, developing the composition, choosing the light, its orientation, its intensity, its colors, and the contrasts, like a poet catching the right line, like a hunter delving into the shadows, like a violinist making the color vibrate, like an actor playing the role of an artist. I seek the state of trance where the expression passes through me and surpasses me.
What inspires me is simplicity, harmony, humanity, and its dramas. What moves me is the truth and intensity in the encounter with others, the key moments where history crystallizes.
I am in search of meaning and feel responsible for infusing magic into a world otherwise devoid of meaning. Like in quantum physics, I am the observer who modifies the state of what he observes. I remain fascinated by the product of my interpretation of the world.
People can expect to find a subtle blend of reality and dreaminess in the choice and treatment of my subjects, often mythological. My works have in common bright lights, the use of universal symbols and metaphors.
My creation objective? I wish to give birth to a living, vibrant, and moving painting.
My research intentions? Reintegration of the multi-temporal into the static image; imaging my physical theory of the thickness of the present; expressing myself in three dimensions through sculpture; adding movement to my painting through animated film.
I am discovering myself through the expression of the world.