Benoît Tremblay

Biography

Since I was a teenager, I've always been a bit apart of the ''ordinary people''. I started to listen to alternative rock, shoegaze music and punk music when I was 11 yrs old. My big sister made me look out on the art of Pollock, Basquiat and Asger Jorn. I first red the society of spectacle from Guy Debord when I was 17 yrs old. I grew up in the Montreal south-west boroughs, wich is where I was born in 1975 and it was very poor at the times I lived there. But on a cultural base, thanks a lot to life I had few teachers who thaught me to appreciate poetry, visual art, writtings and music. But I always knew that anger against inequality and for radical social changes, was inside me. Today I'm less engaged into politicaly oriented activities, because with kids and life that comes with it, it's like that. But more and more I paint and more and more, poetry, music and social change is part of my painting practice. And to me abstraction is still the best way to express the way I feel about this world. About how this world oppresses so many people and that we need to get out of these day by day oppresions by expressing a new world. A world that needs to get out of his own world views and goals.

What’s your background?

I was born in 1975, in the South-West boroughs of Montreal, Qc, Canada. A place at that time that was truly poor. When I was around 11 or 12 yrs old, my older sister took me to a few art shows and also made me open up to visual art and artists such as Pollock, Basquiat and Asger Jorn and the CoBrA artists. This is why at 13 years old I could pick up a complimentary course which was called Art & Communication. So I took the course from grade 8 to 10, three years in a row. I quit school in grade 10, because I was fed up with how my education was going. I went back on an adult basis, at nights while working into a printing shop, in 1995, so I could do all of my high school grades in about a year and a half. I wish I could’ve gone to art school, but I had to work so that’s all about my art education I have… That and the fact that I’m a self taught person. So I started to buy material to paint and also read lots of books about art history. Until today, the post-war avant-garde is still my favorite subject.

What does it mean to you to win the Collectors Art Prize?

The truth… I don’t know! But considering the prize and the definition of why artists like me get the chance of that prize, it means a lot of recognition. A prize that’s based on an artist that pushes far out the boundaries and provokes thoughts into people’s minds  that see his works… That is what I’m trying to do, since day one of my creating career So to me, it means a lot of recognition.

 What do you think is the role of art in the world today?

Making people believe that they can provoke debates about how this world is going and the complexity in which human beings are putting up with. Even with abstraction, I hope people that see my work can think that this kind of art is also made by a guy who is totally fed up with where and how this world of ours is going bad. I sincerely hope that art can change people’s minds, so we can change this world.   

What would it be if you could change one thing about the art world?

Stop following trends and see art as a sincere social vehicle of changing and provoking debates in this society.

What are your most significant professional achievements?

I didn’t get that feeling of a much significant professional achievement, yet. Maybe it could be that prize you’re giving me… But to tell you the truth, since I’m painting I had  the chance to do a lot of exhibitions for a self taught artist with no manager or stuff like that… And I never traded my artistic integrity to do things in the art world. I went through a lot just by being myself and that’s all… That is probably my most significant professional achievement.

What do you wish to tell viewers about your work that might not come out explicitly? What do you hope to inspire with your artwork?

 I hope I can inspire poetry! The Dutch painter Bram Van Velde once said: I need to go towards the illogical. This world we live in crushes us. It is still governed by the same laws. We must create images that do not belong to him. Who are totally different from those he offers us. I truly hope people can see those few sentences and feel that when they look at my works.

What advice would you give to the upcoming generation of artists?

I truly don’t like to give advice to no one… But, let’s just say that cliché. Just do what you want to do. Don’t follow these trends just to get known and you could do cash and all… Just create what you want to create, and if it follows the trends then so be it! Integrity and authenticity are, I still think, the best keywords for artists.

In what direction would you like to see your career go in the next five years?

I wish I could create many more images! Maybe live a bit more out of my art, so I can create much more. But first of all, I hope I could do more art with both of my daughters and that they get the reasons and feelings why I still do art, even though I have to work as well and even if it doesn’t pay that much. And certainly I hope I could at least do 1 or 2 exhibitions every year. 

Country Canada  

Website https://www.bentpotlatch.com/