Auto-Sapiens: Christian Michaud [Ode to Studios/North] by Tanya Eindiguer
This is an English translation of the francophone article “Auto-Sapiens” from
CreatedHere Issue 14: Ode to Studios/North, available for purchase here.
This winter 2021, Christian Michaud, contemporary artist for some thirty years, presents his exhibition Auto-Sapiens at the Galerie d’art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen at the Université de Moncton. When I met the artist to discuss the exhibition he explained “the exhibition rooms will become the studio and public space for experimentation and discussion.” The exhibition under preparation offers a history of art and the artist’s thinking about his future artistic directions and projects.
I was privileged to visit his studio; follow the development of his works’ surfaces and watch his installations take form. While he creates in his studio, his use of the gallery space is central to his work.
“The relationship between private space; the studio and public space; the gallery, represents a dimension of my creative process I don’t entirely understand. . .the work of art is an aesthetic object in which I encounter the viewer and perhaps reach a better understanding of myself.”
From his office at the Musée historique du Madawaska, he frankly states that “in the north you need to take charge and forge ahead.” His work for Auto-Sapiens began two years ago, on the Edmundston campus of the University of Moncton. When the campus closed, his studio became inaccessible and it was impossible for him to continue his paintings. He began sculpting an inspired series of small busts from his home using various mediums. The studio, wherever that might be, is Michaud’s creative private space, but the art work lives only once delivered to the viewer’s gaze.
At the Galerie d’art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen, three galleries will be organised according to Paul Gauguin’s painting “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” (1897-1898). The poetry and beauty of Michaud’s works are revealed in their transformations in the studio and once installed in the gallery. In the back of the first gallery Where Do We Come From? will be a grand canvas (17 x 6 feet), covered by seemingly infinite layers of dark and light, in the middle of which is suspended objects such as a cross cut used tire. Bizarrely, this imposing work exudes a delicacy through its reference to a favorite childhood game. Other found objects take the form of sculptures floating on walls or on shelves. A pedestal in the form of an everyday tire presents a small figurehead elevated on a rod.
Michaud’s artistic approaches are formal and his interests are diverse. He often expresses his admiration for the works of Roméo Savoie, installations by Jana Sterback and the philosophical writings of Ernest Cassirer, Ludwig Wittgenstein and art historian René Passeron. The artist states the materiality of his works must be evident and their relationships intentional in the gallery. He plays with the gallery space much like he does found objects and paintings’ surfaces. As Michaud tells me “in life we need meaning and the viewer gives meaning to a work.” Thus the gallery is a very privileged space, “the extension of the artist’s studio. . . where we encounter his works of art.”
Written by Tanya Eindigueur
Bibliothécaire au Bibliothèque publique Mgr. W.J. Conway et président de la Galerie Colline
Christian Michaud
Directeur du Musée historique du Madawaska, l’Université de Moncton
christian.michaud@umoncton.ca