ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Thirty years ago, I wrote:
“Look for the stroke, weightless, a pure swing of energy”.
A few years later, the stroke came alive when I started to learn Chinese calligraphy and, through François Cheng’s work, discovered a pictorial space where drawing and painting are one and where the stroke is as light as breath. This new understanding has since permeated my work, whether I engage in painting, engraving or drawing.
The stroke emanates from the body, which directs its energy towards painting, engraving or drawing all what a ‘tactile eye’ would have seen of the world. Intensity. Plenitude. Immediacy.
“I am what I see”, to quote Alexandre Holland. Through the works shown in this exhibition, inks, engravings and photographs, I am trying to express my intimate relationship with the world, a
relationship which blurs the boundaries between subject and object. I am this body that draws another body, that of the tree, and then identifies with all the other trees. The primitive forest engulfs me as a tree. The work of art then emerges.
Trees have been present in my work for several years. In the series Le corps de l’arbre the accent is put on the similarities between man and the natural world, but also on the analogies between various natural beings of different shape or scales. In the series of engravings entitled
Amazonie the quest is similar but it explores the imaginary. The series of black and white photographs entitled Présence reflect the way I look at nature as a constant source of inspiration.
The human body, nature and landscape are alluded to in the series Quel jardin?. The question mark underlines the ambiguity.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Béatrice Sokoloff
• Born in Switzerland, 1943. Lived in Québec since 1968. Teacher at the University of Montréal. Started to draw and paint in the early 70s before completing Ph.D.
• Studied Chinese painting and calligraphy during three years at the beginning of the 80s, Virginia Cheng’s Studio, Montréal.
• 2001-2003: Attended numerous courses, Saydie Bronfman School of the Fine Arts and Claire Sugai’s Studio.
• 2003-2004: Painted the series Le corps de l’arbre.
• 2005: Started painting the human body. Traveled to Amazonia. Series of drawings In the forest. Took engraving lessons at Saydie Bronfman’s.
• 2006: Series of engravings Amazonia. Became a member of Saydie Bronfman’s
engraving studio and participated in a group exhibition at Espace Deux Gallery,
May 25 to June 4. Followed intensive summer program at EINA, Barcelona
(viscosity, color printing).
• 2007: Became a member of Atelier Circulaire, in Montréal. Series of engravings Quel jardin?

Exhibition Dates:
13 - 23 September 2007