Marcel Desbiens

Marcel Desbiens was born in 1954 in Québec, Canada. He arrived in Australia 1990

I would like my painting to be an interactive tool with the observer, an image inspiring a subtle reminder of this fundamental task, a search for happiness.

By painting a representation of a real object and achieving the illusion of reality, I wish to lead the viewer towards an emotional reaction that is soothing and inspiring. A painting is a complex assemblage of lines, colours and tones composed in a special way to achieve visual poetry. Overwhelming beauties coming from simplicity can override the analytic section of the brain and reach the core of our inner-self where peace and happiness reside.
Communication is an important part of painting and my measure of success is the level of interaction of the viewer. It is through the power of images that I ultimately aspire to positively affect the emotional state of the viewer. The elements in the painting are structured to aspire towards a perfect composition according to the “Golden Rule”, that is harmony, unity and dynamic rhythm. Thus, the recreated imagery becomes a magical scene, which goes beyond the natural reality. It becomes more like a musical composition for the eyes that proposes an emotional journey of tone and colours, leading us to the beauty and the divine, which is common to all of us.
My goal is to create a painting which when touched by light produces ambient music, filling the air with calmness and inspiring a sense of plenitude. I invite the observer to put his thinking mind at rest, experience the present moment (here and now), and ultimately feel real peace and happiness. My work is therefore intended to go beyond being simply decorative; it is interacting with its environment in a living way."

Education
1973 –1975
Sherbrooke Cegep, Fine Arts
Since 1975 Research and experimentation on the painting techniques.

Solo  Exhibitions
2008    Gadfly Gallery, Dalkeith, Perth, Australia
2007    Delshan Art Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2007    Gadfly Gallery, Dalkeith, Perth, Australia
2006    Delshan Art Gallery, Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia
2005    Maria Perides Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
2004    Delshan Art Gallery, Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia
2003    Musee Louis Hemon, Peribonka, Quebec, Canada
2000    Galerie la Corniche, Chicoutimi, Canada
1997    Delshan Art Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
1996    Valerie Cohen Fine Art Gallery, Sydney, Australia
            Jan Murphy Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
1994    ‘Le moment présent’, Ipswich Regional Gallery, Ipswich, Australia
1992    ‘De la fiction à la réalité’, exposition itinérante :
            Centre culturel de Dolbeau, Dolbeau, Canada
            Salon du Conseil régional de la culture, Jonquière, Canada
            Promenade du Vieux-Québec, Québec, Canada
1985    Caisse Populaire de Sherbrooke-Est, Sherbrooke, Canada
1983    Galerie coopérative des arts visuels, Chicoutimi, Canada
1980    Galerie Menasen, Sherbrooke, Canada
1975    Café de la Cour, Québec, Canada                                                                             
Group Exhibitions
Since 1996 Tattersall’s Club Landscape Prize, Brisbane, Australia
Since 2002 Combined Brisbane Rotary Club Brisbane
2006-07 The Black Snake Art Award, Queensland, Australia
2005    Whyalla Art Prize, South Australia
2005    Works for the blues, Brisbane, Australia            
2005    Reflections of life, Art Prize, Brisbane
2002    Warwick Art Gallery Art Prize
2001    Works for the blues, Brisbane, Australia                
1999    Verlie Just Town Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
            Western Gallery, Toowoomba, Australia
1998    Alice Bale, Art Award, Melbourne, Australia
            Ex. Cat. Smith & Stoneley Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
            Redlands Art Awards, Cleveland, Australia
            The Gold Medal Art Show, Melbourne, Australia
1995    ‘The Sky is the Limit’, The Contemporary Art and Design Gallery, Brisbane,    
            ‘When Angels Prey’, The Bauhaus Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
1994    ‘Drawing Connection’, Metro Arts, Brisbane, Australia
            Moreton Shire Exposition, Ipswich, Australia
1993    ‘Crossing”, BEMAC – Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia
1989    ‘Rencontre parallèle”, Montréal, Canada
1988    ‘Living Nature’, Natural Sciences Museum, Ottawa, Canada
1986    ‘Du beau dans l’espace’, Galerie de la B.C.P., Alma, Canada
1985    ‘Québec-France’, Expo Prestige, Joliette, Canada
1984     Centre international d’art contemporain, Paris, France
             Galerie Pierre Labrecque, Trois-Rivières, Canada
1975-84 Various exhibitions in different regions in Canada
                     
Awards
2007    First prize, Best of Show, The Black Snake Art Award, Queensland, Australia
2006    First prize, Best of Show, The Black Snake Art Award, Queensland, Australia
2006    Best Landscape, The Black Snake Art Award, Queensland, Australia
2004    Commended, Tattersall’s Club Landscape Prize Brisbane, Australia
2003    Best Oil or Acrylic, Art Spectacular, The Combined Brisbane Rotary Clubs,
            Brisbane, Australia
1996    First prize, Tattersall’s Club Landscape Prize Brisbane, Australia
1994    First prize, Moreton Shire Exposition, Ipswich, Australia
1989    Le prix d’excellence, Concours national des arts visuels, ‘Rencontre parallèle’, Montréal, Canada
                                   
Collections
Domtar Inc, Dolbeau, Québec, Canada
Musée Louis-Hémon, Péribonka, Québec, Canada
Hotel de Ville et Centre sportif, Girardville, Canada
Minto Construction Ltée, Ottawa, Canada
First Provincial Building Society, Ipswich, Australia
Caisse Populaire de Sherbrooke-Est, Sherbrooke, Canada
Caisse Populaire de Girardville, Girardville, Canada
Rydges Hotel, Southbank, Brisbane, Australia
Tattersall’s Club, Brisbane, Australia
Ehime Women’s College, Ehime, Japan
Maharaji Center, Amaroo, Queensland, Australia