“Yvon Goulet is not a pop artist in the truest sense of the term. Goulet uses the methodology of pop art and its unique ability to present the everyday, the mundane, without moral or personal comment. He employs some of the same techniques as pop art, that is, the use of appropriated or found imagery and photomechanical reproduction. His subject, however, is neither celebrity nor mass media; rather, his focus is on subjects often passed over by mainstream or mass culture.”
Quebec-artist Yvon Goulet has built a reputation for himself as an “urban folklorist”. He finds his inspiration in Montreal’s Gay Village and illustrates the cultural events and festivities of the gay community. He presents daily reality and features the male body. In his works, he represents the symbols, the uniforms and fantasies which are specific to the gay culture. In so doing, he takes situations and imagery reserved for the few and makes them accessible to all. He paints on polyester panels used during election campaigns. He uses the text of the political posters on which he paints as integral parts of his work.
In a departure from his typical subject, “Yvon Goulet: Animal” presents a menagerie of work where the subject is non-human: bears, pigs, cows, goats, wolves, bats, and mosquitos. He says, “I want to pay tribute to some animals that we eat or spend our life with everyday without looking at them anymore. A steer isn’t just some red meat wrapped in plastic on a plate of styrofoam…it is also a being who has feelings just like ours.”
Yvon Goulet: Animal contains over 40 images of the artist’s animal-themed art work and an essay Ric Kasini Kadour.
Born 1956 in Quebec City, Yvon Goulet lives in Montreal. Since 1986, he has shown in many countries, including Canada, France, South Korea, Bulgaria, Austria, Japan, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, the United States, Spain, as well as the United Arab Emirates. He finished a baccalaureate at Université du Québec à Hull in 1988. In 1989 he collaborated with the University of Ottawa’s Philip Fry on a land art project in Oxford-on-Rideau, Ontario. He participated in several national and international exhibitions. In 2003, he exhibited an artist’s book Touche ça at Galerie 303 in the Belgo Building, Montreal; he was part of the traveling exhibition “The Gay Body” at Vieux Palais, Saint-Jérome, Quebec, (2002); he presented an artist’s book, Danger, at IV Rencontres Internationales, Marseille, France (2001); L’art et le papier IV, Jean-Claude Bergeron Gallery, Ottawa (2000); Sen-Art, biennial, Vert-Saint-Denis, France (1998); Mostra Int. Minigravats, Barcelona, Spain(1997); Kanagawa 18th Print International, Japan (1995); Musée Adzak, Paris (1993); and Arts 1992 ULB, Brussels, Belgium (1992). He has also shown at the QUAB Gallery in Calgary and at Kasini House Gallery in Burlington, Vermont (2007).
This catalog was published in conjunction with the exhibition “Yvon Goulet: Animal” held November 2010 at Galerie Maison Kasini in Montreal, Quebec. The catalogue contains an essay by Ric Kasini Kadour that explore’s Goulet’s technical and conceptual approach to art making and places Goulet’s animal-themed artwork in context to his work documenting gay life.
Details:
ISBN 978-0-9865298-5-6
Publisher: Maison Kasini Canada | 2010
Size: 6″x8.5″
Binding: saddle stitched
36 pages
45 images
Publication ©2010 Maison Kasini Canada
Images ©2010 Yvon Goulet
Book Design by Ric Kasini Kadour
Price: $15
