Still as the Hourglass, 2021
Oil on Linen
54h x 60w in
I work primarily in oil, but also sketch, and create prints in aquatint and sugar lift. As a painter, I don’t approach the canvas with a preconceived idea. If I do, the painting inevitably goes wrong. My painting is intuitive and instinctive. I seem to need ambiguity and contrast. I want a painting to be representative enough that a viewer can see a figure in a dress, a port city architecture or a boat on the water, but at the same time I’m not interested in trying to recreate a scene or a specific geographical location.
My works are chiefly concerned with time, with the very brevity of life itself. The fundamental impulse animating my creative process is to esteem time passing.
The works are not intended as historical depictions, rather they delve into history as a perspective to create mise-en-scène intended for the contemporary viewer to construct particular signs and stories from the layered marks, washes, wipes and drips on the canvass. The titles are chosen from lines of poetry from the past but not to create a literal relationship with the subject of the painting.
Thematically, I remain completely engaged in the exploration of the marine as a landscape form. I prefer to call the images I create marines because in practice the term often covers art showing as much shipping on rivers, beach scenes and all art showing boats, without any rigid distinction.
Throughout her career, Jodoin has turned her attention to subjects as various as: sea, land, and cityscapes, peopled beach scenes, harbours, boats, and birds, as well as florals and primates, all the while striking a delicate balance between abstraction and figuration. Regardless of subject, it is her deft, gestural handling of paint on linen which transports us to another time or place where we can almost feel and smell the salty sea spray.
Organic and evocative, timeless and dreamlike, France Jodoin’s paintings are like windows into the subconscious. That of the artist as well as that of the observer, for the muted palette, evocative of sky and water, leaves the spectator free to imagine his own scenario. Which is, in fact, the artist’s intent.
France Jodoin has been exhibiting in galleries and museums in Canada, the United States and Europe for the past fifteen years. She is known and celebrated for her ability to bring a contemporary understanding of materials to a twentieth century exploration of space, often calling to mind Tuner’s churning, emotive skies and Courbet’s impasto landscapes. She lives and works in Cowansville, Quebec, Canada.
France Jodoin is primarily an oil painter who also sketches, works with watercolours and creates prints in sugar lift and aquatint. While her subjects include seascapes and landscapes, peopled beach scenes, harbours, boats both moored and on the water, as well as flowers, birds, apes, monkeys and gorillas, her deft, gestural handling of paint renders these with a distinct and contemporary sense of presence. Her declared interest is “the very brevity of life itself,” and to that could be added an abiding concern with Otherness. Other places, other times, other people, even other species, all are watched over with care and intimacy in her works. She achieves this timely presence of the Other by treating paint, this fluid medium, as an elemental force driving her narratives in which mere depiction defers to an atmospheric quality that invites the eye to linger and into which the viewer then becomes enmeshed, implicated. When her works delve into history, it is as a perspective with which this presence of the Other can best be awoken, and to create a mise-en-scène in such a way that the contemporary viewer may construct their own particular signs and stories from the layered marks, washes, wipes and drips on the canvas. In her own words, “The fundamental impulse animating my creative process is to esteem time passing.” France Jodoin has been exhibiting in galleries and museums in Canada, the United States and Europe for the past fifteen years. She lives and works in Cowansville, Quebec, Canada.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 - Pryor Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, USA
2019 - Thompson Landry Gallery, ON, Cananda
2018 - Duran Mashaal Gallery, QC, Canada
2018 - Newbury Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
2018 - Saint-Laurent + Hill Gallery, Ottawa, ON, Canada
2017 - Centre culturel Yvonne L. Bombardier, Valcourt, QC, Canada
2017 - Christine Klassen Gallery, Calgary, AB, Canada
2017 - Thompson Landry Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada
2016 - Newbury Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
2016 - Galerie Saint-Laurent + Hill, Ottawa, Canada
2015 - Arts Sutton Gallery, Sutton, QC, Canada
2015 - Pryor Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
2015 - Thompson Landry Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada
2013 - Bruck Museum, Cowansville, QC, Canada
2013 - Christine Klassen Gallery, Calgary, AB, Canada
2012 - Galerie Théo de Seine, Paris, France
2012 - Centre d’art de Kamouraska, QC, Canada
2011 - Galerie Saint-Laurent + Hill, Ottawa, ON, Canada
2010 - Beaux-Arts des Amériques, Montreal, QC, Canada
2010 - The Weiss Gallery, Calgary, AB, Canada
2009 - Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, Ottawa, ON, Canada
2009 - The Weiss Gallery, Calgary, AB, Canada
2008 - Beaux-Arts des Amériques, Montreal, QC, Canada
2008 - The Weiss Gallery, Calgary, AB, Canada
2007 - Galerie Saint-Laurent + Hill, Ottawa, ON, Canada
2003 - Galerie 1225, Montreal, QC, Canada
2003 - Espace 306 (Belgo), Montreal, QC, Canada
2002 - Sylviane Poirier Art Contemporain, Espace 234, Montreal, QC, Canada
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018 - Shankill Castle, Paulstown, co. Kilkenny, Ireland
2016 - Thompson Landry Gallery, Ontario, Canada
2015 - Art 250, Waterville, Ireland
2014 - Boston International Fine Art Show, Boston, MA, USA
2014 - Toronto International Art Fair, Toronto, ON, Canada
2014 - ArtHamptons – International Fine Art Fair, NY, USA
2013 - Collective Exhibition MAUVE, Cowansville, QC, Canada
2013 - ArtHamptons – International Fine Art Fair, NY, USA
2012 - Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts (with Kevin Sonmor), Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
2012 - Newbury Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
2012 - Galerie Théo de Seine (with Patrick Cady), Paris, France
2012 - Soirée des beaux-arts, Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada
2011 - Pryor Fine Art, Atlanta, GA, USA
2010 - Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts, Sherbrooke , Canada
2010 - Beaux-Arts des Amériques, Montreal, Canada
2008 - The Weiss Gallery, Calgary, Calgary, Canada
2008 - Beaux-Arts des Amériques, Montreal, Canada
2007 - Beaux-Arts des Amériques, Montreal, Canada
2006 - Galerie St-Laurent + Hill, Ottawa , Canada
2005 - Art Auction, Maisonneuve-Rosement Hospital Foundation, Montreal, Canada
2004-2005 - Art Auction, Canadian Liver Foundation, Montreal, Canada
2004 - Galerie 1225, Montreal, Canada
2004 - James Baird Gallery, St. John’s, Canada
2003 - Galerie Observatoire 4, Montreal, Canada
2003 - Galerie Artus, Montreal, Canada
2002-2005 - Thomas More Institute Annual Art Exhibition, Galerie Loto-Québec, Montreal, Canada
2002 - Galerie Artus, Montreal, Canada
2002 - Cirque du Soleil, Montreal, Canada
2000 - Mont Laurier Summer School, Quebec, Canada
2000 - Expo-concours de Laprairie, Quebec, Canada
1999-1997 - Saidye Bronfman School of Fine Arts, Montreal , Canada
1996 - Ottawa School of Arts, Ottawa, Canada
Education
2013 - Etching techniques course, Bishop’s University, Knowlton Campus, QC, Canada
2012 - Aquatint and etching, Atelier Circulaire, Montreal, QC, Canada
2009-2010 - Intaglio, Atelier Circulaire, Montréal, QC, Canada
2000 - Portrait Course, Mont Laurier Summer School, QC, Canada
1996-1999 - Mixed Media, Saidye Bronfman School of Fine Arts, Montreal, QC, Canada
1996 - Drawing with the Model, Ottawa School of Arts, ON, Canada
1995 - Creative Drawing, Glebe School of Arts, Ottawa, ON, Canada
1993 - Intermediate Drawing, Manotick School of Arts, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Artist Residency
2018 - Shankill Castle, Paulstown, co. Kilkenny, Ireland
2016 - Brisons Veor, Cape Cornwall, UK
2015 - The Cill Rialaig Project, Ballinskelligs, co. Kerry, Ireland
2004 - Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, Canada
Bibliography
La Tribune, Julie Lupien, Univers Croisés, May 29, 2017
Radio-Acton, Le monde de Katrine, interview with Katrine Dandeneau, June 14, 2017
LeMétropolitain, France Jodoin expose à la galerie Thompson Landry, November 11, 2017
ICI Radio-Canada Première Chaîne, L’Heure de pointe, interview with Kevin Sweet, November 9, 2017
Isabelle Gauthier, France Jodoin: A Different Type of Scenery. Magazin’Art, Vol. 28, Spring 2016, no 111, pp. 77-79
NeighbourhoodArtsNetwork.org. Time and its Reflection, New works by France Jodoin, November 2015
Catherine McArthur Falls, France Jodoin: Time and its reflection at Thompson Landry. November 13th, 2015
ICI Radio-Canada Première Chaîne, Y a pas deux matins pareils with Isabelle Gobeil, November 11, 2015
ICI Radio-Canada television, interview with Kevin Sweet, November 12, 2015
Philo & Cie : Magazine de philosophie et de sciences humaines et sociales. La compagnie des animaux. janvier-avril 2015, no 10, cover page and pages pages 18-19
Nick Fonda. Hanging Fred and a Few Others. Painters of the Eastern Townships. Montreal, Baraka Books, 2014, pp. 105-111
Tassé. Objectif: Relancer le Musée Bruck. La Voix de l’Est. Arts et Culture, June 12, 2013, p. E6
Nick Fonda. Cowansville artist draws international attention. The Record. April 18, 2013, p. 5
Gouvernement du Québec pour la France. Trois artistes québécois exposent à la galerie Théo de Seine. Paris, January 2012
Art Actuel: le magazine des arts contemporains. Nathalie Gauglin et France Jodoin. Paris, November 2012
Radio CHOX-FM de la Pocatière, Interview with Maxime Paradis, host of Le Paradis infernal, June 7th, 2012
Laura Martin. Un couple bien assorti. La Tribune, Sherbrooke, February 16, 2012
Clément Martin. De petites histoires sur grands formats. Zone-Art, February 8, 2012
Radio-Canada - Première Chaîne. Interview with Patrick Masbourian, host of Bouillant de culture, February 4, 2012
Le Devoir, Week-end Culture. Jodoin et Sonmor à Sherbrooke, January 27, 2012
Société Radio-Canada (television). Interview with Anik Moulin. Le téléjournal Estrie, January 23, 2012
Sherbrooke Record – Newsroom. Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke – Simple Short Stories. January 23, 2012, page 2
CBC Radio. Interview with Jacquie Czernin, host of Breakaway, January 20, 2012
Patrick Cady. Un Lever de lumière. Vie des Arts. No 214, Spring Issue 2009
Heather Black. Photographer Gabor Szilasi and painter France Jodoin.Westmount Independent. October 14-15, 2008. Vol. 2, No. 10b
Claude Bouchard. Nature et énergie. Le Droit. April 28, 2007.
Michael Olender. Ottawa Rorschach test : gallery four seven nine. University of Ottawa’s Fulcrum. November 16, 2006, Issue 67.13
Exhibition Catalogues(texts)
Susan Surette, MA, Part-time faculty, Department of Art History, Concordia University for the exhibition Nomads, Players and Voyeurs
Anthony Collins. "No Sailors without Waters" for the exhibition Simple Short Stories, Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts, 2012
Chassé, Bernard. "Intuition" for the exhibition Nomades/Wanderers, Montréal, 2010
Exhibition Essays
Susan Surette, MA, Part-time faculty, Department of Art History, Concordia University for the exhibition Nomads, Players and Voyeurs
Sarah Boucher, Curator, Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts, for the exhibition Simple Short Stories, 2012
Lefebvre Glaubinger, Lucienne and Hébert Stoneberger, Jacqueline, for the exhibition Nomades/Wanderers, Montréal, 2010
Awards
2000 - First Prize, Expo-concours, Laprairie, Quebec, Canada
Public Collections
Cirque du Soleil,
Loto-Québec,
Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts
Encana
Elk Valley Coal
Private Collections
Canada
United States
Europe
