Segolene Gautier

THE JOURNEYS

Segolene Gautier began to follow her dreams as soon as she was adventurous enough to dip her little fingers into paint. She continued her artistic journey at the age of 7, by attending a class at a famous Parisian School of Decorative Arts (Ecole de l’Union Centrale des Arts Decoratifs). There she learned the basics about telling stories using only shapes and colors. At 13, she went to another Paris art school, the Ecole Superieure des Arts Appliques Duperre, where she improved her drawing and gained further experience in producing effects through the use of specific kinds of colors.

However her history-geography teacher told her it was impossible to make a living with her artistic skills. Unfortunately, teenagers usually tend to trust the "grown-ups", and tha’s why, despite her love for art, the young artist put her passion aside for a few years. Even though she continued to draw for herself, she started to do some “serious” studies (a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy) and later a “serious” job (freelance writing and communications). After spending time in, among other places, Italy, the South of France and Paris, she finally arrived in Montreal at the age of 24. Finally at 28 that she had an epiphany. After entering a program to become an interior designer (she needed a new, more artistic challenge), she came to realize that what she was far more interested in were the art lessons than the technical ones.

• A solo exhibition on the theme of love, as part of an event organized by a Montreal cultural center
(February 2002)

•Taking part as a painter-exhibitor in the Montreal Celtic Festival
(August 2002)

•A 3-month solo exhibition at the Espace Saint-Martin in Paris (“Explorers and Magicians”, Sept. to Dec. 2002)

• Being selected to participate in summer 2003 in the 8th edition of “La Grande Fresque de Nuit”, a highly popular event held annually in Montreal, during which 50 artists spend an entire night painting directly onto the surface of one of the city’s most renowned streets.

Some of her paintings are on display at the Entre Cadre Gallery, 4895 St-Laurent Blvd., Montreal, Canada. Gautier only portrays women, and her chosen medium is acrylic on canvas. Segolene Gautier is now 32. When she doesnąt paint, she teaches graphic design on a campus near Montreal. Her personal site can be seen at www.creattitude.com

STATE OF MIND

For several months now, Segolene Gautier has developed a new concept surrounding the “Journeys” theme. All acrylic on canvas, each of her works presents a different city (or country) in the background, using only shades of gray to produce the effect of an out-of-focus black and white picture. This could be interpreted in two different ways: either the figure is remembering her trip, or she is fantasizing about being there. The women in the foreground are always in monochrome or depicted using only 2 or 3 colors, with an accentuated graphic style (minimal detail goes straight to the subject’s essence). They are strong, independent - they travel alone - and, most of the time, have a great sense of humor. The titles enable the viewer to bond with the characters and give a certain degree of intimacy, with the name of the women being disclosed. And each time, the character’s name has the same 1st letter as the city she is visiting. These paintings are also a journey inside emotions and states of mind because we can - through the heroines of the paintings - feel like resting, indulging, hiding or showing off ourselves. With all these clues offered by the painter, the public is free to make up their own story, entering inside the scene. Segolene Gautier has traveled extensively and the places shown are either cities she’s been to or intends to visit very soon. The intention of these works is to entice people to travel in their minds and capture small fragments of dreams and humor inside their homes.

SEGOLENE GAUTIER OPENS
A SOLO ARTIST SHOW
“ Journeys”

at the Ezair Gallery:

June 1-June 30, 2003

with the RECEPTION on:
June 5 , 2003
6 PM - 8 PM