Marie-Claire Blais (b. 1974, Lévis) is a leading light of contemporary art in Montreal, yet until now her work has not been presented in a major Canadian museum. Blais extends the language of abstraction into the contemporary movement, painting on canvas and then cutting, shredding and unraveling the painting surface to produce subtle works that hover between sculpture and painting.
Working in the tradition of abstraction pioneered by Françoise Sullivan, Blais walks in her footsteps, updating the vocabularies of abstraction for the next generation. Like Sullivan, Blais works in many media, from works on paper to canvases that are painted and often cut and draped on the wall, as well as free-standing sculpture. The delicacy, intelligence and sophistication of her work mark her as a leader of the vanguard of Quebec and Canadian art.
Marie-Claire Blais, Être la porte qui s’ouvre 10, 2017, Acrylic on canvas, 203 x 330 cm, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie René Blouin