Nicolas Grenier

Nicolas Grenier’s interest lies in the distorted connections between the many systems we inhabit—political, economic, cultural and social—and the principles (or absence of principles) at the root of these systems. His artworks, primarily paintings but also drawings, architectural installations, artist books and prints, translate these theoretical, philosophical problems into the visual or physical. He freely employs the language of architecture and diagrams to imagine models or structures that make explicit the absurdity and perversion that is implicit in the current neo-liberal social landscape. He combines symbolic and indexical elements such as architectural plans, color coding, text, arrows and legends, which refer to specific concepts and issues outside the canvas, while their meaning within the work remains relative to colors and shapes. This ambiguous relationship between content and form — as well as his own skepticism towards language - is a central concern in Grenier’s work.

Nicolas Grenier received his BFA from Concordia University (Canada) in 2004 and his MFA from CalArts (USA) in 2010. His work has been exhibited regularly in Canada, in the USA and in Europe. He lives and works in Los Angeles and Montreal. Recent exhibitions include the 2015 Contemporary Art and Architecture Triennial of Bruges, Bruges, Belgium and 2014 La Biennale de Montréal, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Canada, He has also exhibited at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles; Maison de la culture Mercier, Montréal; Commonwealth & Council, Los Angeles; University of California, Santa Barbara; Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles; Torrance Art Museum; Choi&Lager Gallery, Cologne; Union Gallery, London; and galerie Art Mûr, Montreal. His work is included in the Loto-Québec collection, the Musée Nationale des Beaux-Arts du Québec (CPOA collection), as well as corporate and private collections.

Submitted by Luis De Jesus Los Angeles