Julie Desmarais

A painting takes shape...

Julie Desmarais, (1976, - )

Originally from the Laurentians, Julie Desmarais is a landscape painter who has been living and working in Montreal for the past 20 years. In 1999, she obtained her bachelor's degree in Visual Arts and Art History from the University of Montreal. In 2004, she won the Young Artists of the Laurentians competition, granting her a scholarship and a solo exhibition at the Musée d'art contemporain des Laurentides. Since then, she has participated in several contemporary art fairs in Canada and the United States as well as in several group shows and solo exhibitions on the Canadian territory. She continues to paint daily in her studio located at Chat des Artistes, rue Parthenais, in Montreal.

As an artist committed to the Montreal artistic community, she has organized and implemented various mobilizing art projects in order to promote her work and that of other artists and friends to the art world. Her paintings are part of many private and public collections in Canada and around the world.

Curriculum Vitae

Julie Desmarais landscape painter

Education

BFA – Université de Montréal (1995-1999)

DEC Communcations Visuelles – Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf (1993-1995)

 

Solo exhibitions (selections ...)

Figurer la beauté des lieux – Salle Rousseau-Vermette – Ville de Ste-Adèle Mars (2025)

Passage – Galerie D’Este (2019)
Recueil de paysages – Galerie D’Este (2017)
Courants – Galerie D’Este (2014)
Grande Forêt / Petite Forêt – Musée d’art contemporain des Laurentides (2004)

Scholarships and grants (selections ...)

Bourse de voyage – TOAF 2024

CALQ – Acquisitions et mise en marché (2021)

Conseil des Arts de Montréal – Atelier d’artiste (2020-2021)

Culture Montréal – Atelier d’artiste (2009-2021) 

SODEC – Programme d’aide aux artistes en Arts Visuels ( 2014)

Lauréate et Boursière – Jeune artiste des Laurentides – Musée d’art contemporain des Laurentides (2004)

Group shows (selections ...)

Le Québec au fil des saisons – Duo – Centre d’art Boréart – Granby (2024)

Tradition Transformed – Carmichael Canadian Landscape Exhibition – Orillia Museum of Art and History (Ontario) (2014 – 2022 – 2024)

SCA – 56th SCA Juried Exhibition (2024)

Painting – John B. Aird Gallery – Toronto (Ontario) (2022-23)

Spotlight Exhibition – Federation Gallery (Vancouvert) (2022)

Des Petites Intrigantes – Présentée par Loto-Québec – Commissaire Andrée Matte  (2017)

Professional associations (selections ...)

RAAVQ – Rassemblement des Artistes en Arts Visuels du QC – membre professionnel

IAF – Institut des Arts Figuratifs – membre signataire

SCA – Société Canadienne des Artistes

Coopérative Lezarts – membre

La Chaufferie – membre

La Virée des Ateliers – membre

Public Art (selections ...)

Grande forê-petite forêt  (2004) Tableau à l’huile et encaustique (244cm x 244cm) – Collection Polaris Immobilier Corp. Hall – Accès Gare Centrale – 800, René-Lévesque O., Montréal, QC, Canada

FEDNAV – Collection privée – Hall d’entrée, 3500-1000 Rue De La Gauchetière O, Montréal, QC, Canada

Rassemblement – Installation extérieure/œuvre d’art collective et monumentale – Centre de diffusion La Chaufferie (2012)

Julie Desmarais

At the studio...

Walking into Julie Desmarais' studio, the viewer has the impression that the room has no walls, rather a series of windows giving onto a vista still taking shape, overlooking a panorama that continues to take shape, a fragmented landscape of unbearable fragility. The artist's canvases, as yet unfinished, suspended in the magical space between a sketch and a finished work of art. It is indeed a privilege to witness the creative process, each dab of paint finding its right place, altering the image brushstrokes by brushstrokes... What remains, the trace, the memory is imbued with meaning.