Out of the past

>> The poetic and political faux
antiques of Yannick Pouliot

NO IMPOSTOR: Pouliot

by CHRISTINE REDFERN

When you talk to artist Yannick Pouliot, he does not describe his work in the common terminology of contemporary art. Instead, decorative movements such as Eastlake, Empire and France’s Regency style are the historical precedents and inspirational sources for his art production.

Pouliot grew up in Montreal, but now resides in Saint-Casimir, a village situated between Montreal and Quebec City. There, he bought an old house with a chicken coop, space to garden and a workshop where he can build his sculptures. His educational background is eclectic; he is a trained cabinet-maker, having completed a two-year course in Quebec City; he studied agriculture in Saint-Hyacinthe; and he graduated from the Université Laval in studio arts.

Pouliot’s art practice mainly revolves around creating beautiful furniture and exotic architectural rooms. His replicas, in many ways, are faithful reproductions of traditional decorative styles. For example, in the work that mimics the Regency style, Pouliot sculpted the chair legs and arms from mahogany and imported Jacquard fabric from France.

But don’t expect to sit in one of his chairs or live inside one of his rooms. Pouliot has twisted their design elements in order to reflect the psychological aspect of being human, not the physical. “These high-end luxury items are very seductive, conventionally beautiful”, says Pouliot. “I use this to attract the viewer’s attention, but each work has also been deformed in some way to express human emotions and our relationship to these prestigious possessions.”

In the last few years, Pouliot has exhibited his sculptural works in only a handful of group shows. All that will change in 2008. His first major museum show L’imposteur et le styliste opens at the Musée d’art contemporain on Feb. 8. This exhibition will include three furniture pieces, an installation and a series of 10 prints. Also at the museum, a video by Pouliot will be included in the upcoming Triennial of Quebec Art from May 24–Sept. 2.

His work is also part of Quebec Gold, a group show happening next summer in France. Lastly, Pouliot will be involved in two exhibitions at the Musée National des beaux-arts du Québec: Intruders from April 24–Oct. 12 and the exhibition It Happened in Your Neighbourhood, a survey of contemporary art in Quebec that opens on Dec. 4, 2008.