Nicolas Grenier is a transdisciplinary artist based in Tio’tia:ke / Montreal, who explores themes of social order transformation, paradigm shift and power structures. His practice includes traditional media such as painting and drawing, as well as installations, lecture-performances, experimental investigations and data visualization. His works, which often have an atmospheric dimension, aim to give visual or physical form to speculative visions.
Nicolas Grenier (1982) holds a BFA from Concordia University and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. He attended residencies at ZK/U Center for Arts and Urbanistics, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, the Saas-Fee Summer institute of Art in Berlin and the Banff Center. His work has been exhibited at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Power Plant (Toronto), the Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, gallery Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Galerie Bradley Ertaskiran (Montréal), Gagosian Gallery (Athens), Denny Dimin Gallery (Hong Kong), the Bruges Triennial of Art and Architecture (Belgium), Commonwealth & Council (Los Angeles) and Union Gallery (London). His work is collected by the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, the Royal Bank of Canada, the Caisse de Dépôt du Québec, the National Bank of Canada, and others. Grenier won the 2016 Prix Pierre-Ayot from the City of Montreal (2016), and was shortlisted for the 2019 Sobey Art Award. He lives and works in Montreal and Los Angeles, and is represented by Galerie Bradley Ertaskiran and Luis De Jesus Los Angeles.
Artwork description
Nicolas Grenier is interested in the biased connections between our political, economic and social systems and the principles—or lack thereof—on which they are founded. In all his art, he attempts to visually and physically capture the essence of theoretical and philosophical problems.He mainly paints and creates architectural installations, but also produces drawings, digital images and art books. In works that are both analytical and poetic, Grenier mixes architecture and psychedelic accents, text and geometric abstractions and diagrams with colourful fields.