Jean Brillant

Portrait Jean Brillant

Link between men, between peoples, between cultures, but also with nature. Link between materials and shapes, time and the ephemeral. Despite our impressions, time never stops. It glides over our lives and over the world, like a promise to make each moment a magical and unique interlude.

Biography

Quebec sculptor born in Rimouski, in 1959. His family moved to the South of France in 1968 where he discovered, very young, the size of the stone of Vaucluse. This discovery of the material will later lead him to the School of Fine Arts in Aix-en-Provence (1979), then to the Fine Arts in Dijon (1983), before joining the University of Quebec in Montreal. (1984) upon his return to Quebec. His discovery of the world of art and artists in European and North American galleries led him to give free rein to his imagination and allowed him to assemble or confront the natural and the industrial in complete freedom.

Several personal exhibitions have been devoted to him in Canada (Galerie Daniel in Montreal, Galerie Madeleine Lacerte in Quebec, Leo Kamen Gallery in Toronto) and in France (Galerie Pierre Nouvion in Monaco and Galerie Remp’art in Toulon). Since 1994, Jean Brillant has mainly created outdoor sculptures. Many of his works are now part of public collections (Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Musée d’art de Rimouski, MACAAL de Marrakech, Musée d’art de Joliette), as well as private collections (Bombardier Foundation, Steelcase, Lemay Architecte, Groupe Mach, not to mention many anonymous collectors.

Jean Brillant currently lives in Quebec, installed in a former industrial factory transformed into an artist’s studio, in the heart of Montreal.

Artistic approach

“Today, my work is inspired by organic, vegetal and mineral forms. The references are as much physical as psychic. I oppose them to the human being. It is through the use of commercial, industrial and mineral materials that I design my sculptures. Natural forms unfold from the raw material or from the transformed object that has become scrap. It is logical that my large format works find their place in tamed places. These are natural spaces that have been created by the hand of man and this helps to make my sculptures timeless. »

Jean Brillant, sculptor

Career

Educational background
1984 University of Quebec in Montreal, Bachelor of Fine Arts
1983 National School of Fine Arts in Dijon, France
1979-81 Charpentier School, Paris
1978-79 School of Fine Arts of Aix-en-Provence, Fr

 

INDIVIDUAL EXHIBITIONS

2021-2026 Sculptural Journey, Joliette Art Museum, Joliette, Quebec (public art)
2013-2023 Artist residency and mediation with the City of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec (public art)
2016 Domaine Forget, Ste-Irénée, Quebec (public art)
2016 Essart, Quebec space, Sainte-Pie-de-Guire, Quebec (public art)
2016 Museum of Religions, Nicolet, Quebec (public art)
2016 Parc des Meubliers, Montreal, Quebec (public art)
2014 Les Cours Le Royer, Montreal, Quebec (public art)
2014 Parc Colette-Devlin, “From Trees to Art”, Montreal, Quebec (public art)
2014 Nomade, Al-Maaden Sculpture Park, Marrakech, Morocco (public art)
2008 -2014 Mixing and mimicry, Reford Gardens, Métis, Quebec (public art)
2007 Mixing and Mimicry, Reford Gardens, Métis, Quebec (public art)
2005-2006 Monumentales, Cégep Marie-Victorin sculpture park and Maison de la culture Rivière-des-Prairies, Montreal, Quebec (public art)
2004 Recent Works, Victoria Hall Gallery, Westmount, Quebec
2002 Bombardier Foundation, Valcour, Quebec
2002 L’Imagier Exhibition Center, Aylmer, Quebec
2000 DuGazon-Couture Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
2000 Galerie Madeleine Lacerte, Quebec, Quebec

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018 Majors Hill Park, Canada Day, Ottawa
2018 Baie St-Paul Contemporary Art Symposium
2016 Creations-on-the-spot, Mont-Saint-Hilaire
2016 Underground Art, International City, Montreal
2014   Recycl’art, Montcalm Gallery, Gatineau, Quebec
2014 Chantier Libre 4, Ateliers Jean Brillant, Montreal, Quebec
2012 Free Workshop 3, Ateliers Jean Brillant, Montreal, Quebec
2011 Chantier Libre 2, Ateliers Jean Brillant, Montreal, Quebec
2007 Chantier Libre/Freeland, Ateliers Jean Brillant, Montreal, Quebec
2006 Earth, Stone and Iron, Visual Arts Center, McClure Gallery, Westmount, Quebec
2005 VYS and Virtues, Hall O Patro VYS, Montreal, Quebec
2005 Near an Enchanted River, Casa Obscura, Montreal, Quebec
2004 Island Once Upon a Time, Casa Obscura, Montreal, Quebec
2004 Sculptures, International Center for Contemporary Art, Monpellier, Quebec
2004 Tribute to Madeleine Lacerte, art dealer, Maison Hamel-Bruneau, Quebec
2004 Auction, Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal, Quebec
2003 Côté Jardin, Point Rouge Gallery, Montreal, Quebec
2003 Auction, Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal, Quebec
2002 Sculptures, Art Gallery of the University of Moncton, Moncton, NB
2000 Nature, La Seyne-sur-Mer, France.

COLLECTIONS
Lemay Architecture Collection, Montreal, Quebec
Collection of Groupe Mach, Montreal, Quebec
Bombardier Foundation Collection, Quebec
Collection of Al-Maaden Sculpture Park, Marrakech, Morocco
Collection of Cegep Marie-Victorin, Quebec
McDonald's Collection, Montreal, Quebec
Lavalin Collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec, Quebec
Molson Brewery, Bas-Saint-Laurent, Rimouski, Quebec
Musée du Québec, Loan collection of works of art, Quebec
Steelcase, Montreal, Quebec