Gilbert Poissant | About

Trained as a ceramist, Gilbert Poissant gradually expanded into other technical and aesthetic spheres. This multi-disciplinary artist has created murals, installations and sculptures, employing various materials, such as stone, wood and found objects, as well as digital processes. Renowned for his contribution to public art, Gilbert has produced more than 30 commissions of artworks that are incorporated into the architecture.

Biography

Photo : Marie-Laure Leclerc

Gilbert Poissant is the recipient of the first career scholarship in crafts from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. His works are on permanent display in the decorative arts galleries of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Born in Iberville, Quebec, in 1952, Gilbert Poissant lives and works on the slopes of Mont Saint-Hilaire, in the vicinity of Montreal. His work has been shown in Quebec, in Canada, and abroad. A ceramist by training, he has spent his professional life exploring all aspects of the discipline, placing it fully in the universe of contemporary art. He is recognized for his contributions to public art, having produced around forty commissions, which are closely tied to his personal artistic production, as evinced in gallery, artist-centre, and museum exhibitions. From the start, he has put every effort into broadening the scope and depth of his investigations.

In 1999, Poissant won a national competition for the realization of a work to adorn Quebec City’s École nationale d’administration publique. His many murals produced since 1988 include the Outremont Metro station, the murals of L’Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis, the Lakeshore General Hospital, and those of the department of veterinary science at Université de Montréal in Saint-Hyacinthe. His work is part of many public and private collections, including those of the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

Among the key exhibitions strewn throughout Poissant’s 40-year career, one might mention Céramique et architecture, as guest artist at the 6th Biennale nationale de céramique de Trois-Rivières, in 1994, Jardin de tessons, at the Musée de la Ville de Lachine in 1995, 5 fois 2 temps, at Centre Expression de Saint-Hyacinthe and several other exhibition centres in Quebec in 1997, and Arrêt sur espace, presented at Plein Sud and the Musée des beaux-arts de Mont-Saint-Hilaire in 2001. Intimate Architecture transposed was shown at the Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina, Saskatchewan, and at the Surrey Art Gallery in Surrey, Brisish-Columbia in 2007. In 2008, he created an impressive installation at Circa made up of more than 600 wood objects collected over several decades, Le jeu du collectionneur.

In 2005, Gilbert Poissant was invited to participate in the international symposium, Barro de America, in Venezuela, and in 2007 he creates a permanent work on location, at the FuLe International Ceramic Art Museums (FLICAM), in Fuping, China. He was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2003.

In 2013, he received the first Career Grant in the field of crafts awarded by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.