Lyse Lemieux

Biography

Lyse Lemieux studied at the University of Ottawa (1973–75) and the University of British Columbia (1976–78) and received a BFA from the University of British Columbia (1978). Lemieux was appointed and served for eight years (2002-2010) as a part-time member of the Canadian Artist and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal (CAPPRT) a quasi-judicial tribunal in Ottawa, responsible for the interpretation and administration of the Status of the Artist Act (SAA). She also worked on contract as a radio producer and television journalist in Vancouver for La Société Radio-Canada in Vancouver (1987-2013). She currently lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Lyse was the winner of the 2017 VIVA Award.

Artistic practice

Lemieux's practice focuses on expanded drawing and drawing installation, her materials vary but have included textiles, ink on paper, and wool felt. Her content is mostly abstract, but she often employs ovoids. Robin Laurence has said that Lemieux uses these "lopsided ovals to suggest either human heads or bodies, part of an experimental drawing practice that dodges between abstraction and figuration. She has also claimed unexpected materials such as fabric, found clothing, even medical tape as drawing materials, confounding our understanding of medium and process." Her work is known for a sensitive, lyrical line which Marina Roy details, "the viewer attempts to pinpoint what it is about a particular combination of line quality, ink wash and fabric collage that evokes such humour, absurdity and pathos." Her abstractions fragment the subject by separating heads and torsos, Robin Laurence sees this as a moment "created out of disjointed parts are reminiscent of the surrealist practice of 'Exquisite Corpse'." Her work has been curated alongside Vikky Alexander, Nadia Myre, Beth Stuart, Meryl McMaster, Shary Boyle, Carol Wainio and Luanne Martineau in Aujourd'hui Encore at Trépanier Baer in Calgary, and more recently curated by Daina Augaitis and Jesse McKee for the Vancouver Art Gallery show Vancouver Special: Ambivalent Pleasures which contextualized emerging artists like Jeneen Frei Njootli, and Krista Belle Stewart with established artists like Mina Totino, Lyse Lemieux, Gary Neil Kennedy, and Elizabeth McIntosh.

Exhibitions

Lemieux’s work has been featured in exhibitions such as; ‘A Girls Gotta Do What A Girls Gotta Do’, Richmond Art Gallery; ‘Black is the Size of my new Dress ’, Republic Gallery; In-Between-In-Between: Lyse Lemieux & Meryl McMaster, Katzman Contemporary, Toronto; Chernoff Fine Arts, "Soldiers and Vesperers", Chernoff Fine Arts, Vancouver; ‘Aujourd’hui Encore’, Trépanier Baer Gallery, Calgary; Vancouver Art Gallery "Ambivalent Pleasures", Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Ontario; "Cut & Paste", Equinox Gallery, Vancouver.

Selected bibliography

• Kevin Griffin, Lyse Lemieux turns black felt into leaning bodies, Vancouver Sun, June 8, 2016
• Robin Laurence, Lyse Lemieux; A Girls Gotta Do What A Girls Gotta Do, Georgia Straight, May 12, 2016
• Michèle Smolkin, Les Corps Feutrés de Lyse Lemieux, La Source, 19 avril, 2016
• Anaïs Elboujdaïni, Fille fait ce que fille doit: Dans l'entrelacs de la feutrine, La Source,April, 2016
• Kevin Griffin, Lyse Lemieux uses scissors to draw in black felt, Vancouver Sun, Nov.12, 2015
• Terence Dick, Lyse Lemieux at Katzman Contemporary, Akimblog, March, 2015
• Dion Kliner, Vancouver Report: Lyse Lemieux, Two Coats of Paint; A New York Blog, February, 2014
• Marina Roy, Lyse Lemieux at Republic Gallery, Border Crossings, March, 2014
• Raissa Alvero, In conversation with Lyse Lemieux, The Portefolio.com, February, 2013
• Robin Laurence, Lyse Lemieux; New Work, Georgia Straight, November, 2012
• Robin Laurence, Cut and Paste, Georgia Straight, August, 2012
• Robin Laurence, Soldiers and Vesperers, Georgia Straight, April, 2009
• Robin Laurence, Lemieux weaves ideas into artful dresses, Georgia Straight, March, 2004