Additional Images

Provenance:

Private Collection, Toronto

Literature:

Melanie Authier. National Gallery of Canada Artist Interview: Melanie Authier. Dec. 21, 2012. Accessed July 30, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lLtzD5kLoo

Note:

Melanie Authier’s paintings are spirited arrangements of conflicting elements that appeal to each viewer in a unique way. Some are drawn to the extreme ranges of dynamic colour, while others gravitate toward the controlled chaos of shapes always present in her work. Inspired by the scope of reactions to her painting, Authier creates with the intent of awakening her audience to the complexities of abstract art while retaining a sense of “playfulness.” She says, “With all of my works the attempt and goal is always to combine various visual contradictions into one imaginary space…I’m interested in creating these visual contrasts through a negotiation of oppositions…” Victrola (2009) is a complex visual experience with its disparate, rainbow coloured bands and earthy swatches of colour competing for canvas space. Geometric and organic forms alongside a dizzying composition of lulls and frenetic spaces blend together to exist in balanced harmony.

Authier received a BFA from Concordia University in 2002 and completed her MFA at the University of Guelph in 2006. She has received several grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. Authier was awarded an honourable mention in the RBC Canadian Painting Competition in 2007 and her work is represented in many corporate, private and institutional collections.