Galerie DESIGN, Frelighsburg, Québec

Né à St-Hubert, en banlieue de Montréal, le 26 août 1979. Alors qu’il est au secondaire, son prof d’arts plastiques, Madame Maheux, elle-même graveur, trouve que son élève se débrouille plutôt bien en dessin. Elle-même membre de l’atelier Circulaire, elle y introduit Frédéric, dont le travail se preterait bien à la gravure. Au départ, on acceuille Frédéric, alors agé de 17 ans, avec réticence. L’Atelier n’est pas en tant que tel ouvert au public et n’offre pas de formation. Frédéric commence alors un parcours autodictacte, d’essais et d’erreurs, glânant technique et savoir faire au contact des artistes membre de l’atelier. Y passant le meilleur de son temps de 1996 à 1999, il développe une approche unique mariant une grande rigueur technique à sa propre sensibilité humaine. Jusqu’à ce jour, sa thématique préférée demeure la représentation animalière, explorant la majesté et la diversité de la faune africaine. Les résultats sont à couper le souffle.

* Don Davidson - History

I studied at the Institute of Design of the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago in 1956 earning a B.Sc. This is a design school based in the fundamentals of the Bauhaus School of Germany where Architecture, Design, Applied, Decorative Arts are combined. The emphasis there is put on a clean, geometric approach with a minimum of decoration to all the disciplines.

After graduation I went to New York to join one of my Professors who had joined the Architectural firm of Edward Larabee Barnes. Together we worked on the Pan American Airways re-design account. This work included a new corporate identity, aircraft interiors, seats, uniforms, office interiors and ticket offices.

After a few years we formed an independent office, Charles Forberg Associates, to pursue other projects such as exhibits for the U.S. Information Agency, the American Section of the Trienalle di Milano and the Sao Paulo Bienal both of which won first prizes for installation design. Other work included exhibits for the Metropolitan Museum, MoMA, and the Whitney Museum where we produced “Calder’s Universe”, a retrospective of the work of the America sculptor , Alexander Calder. I had always admired Calder’s work and appreciated having the opportunity to work so closely with much of it. I met him only briefly during the work. He died just before the opening. His work is bold, daring and at the same time, whimsical. It has had a great influence on me.

I retired from the American scene in 1983 to return to Waterloo and to enjoy the leisure of the Arts and Crafts life. I joined Farfelu in the early days of that local craft co-op and produced furniture, table ware and lamps. My experience while making metal furniture led me to sculpture and I began to seriously focus on the techniques of cutting, bending and welding of heavy steel plate.

I begin my sculptures by cutting and forming a piece of cardboard. These are always basic geometric blanks; squares, rectangles, triangles etc. The cuts are simple and the resulting shapes are bent, rolled or folded. No material is added or removed. All these self-imposed “restrictions” give the pieces a distinctive character something like Origami and Haiku poetry.

The more interesting ideas are then translated into light sheet metal and eventually into heavy steel plate. At this point the scale of the work determines whether I make it myself with my limited equipment or take it to one of several professional shops in the area which have heavy duty, industrial tools.

Most of the pieces have a monochromatic finish. I count on the changing daylight to emphasize chiaroscuro of the facets and the voids. A few pieces are painted in various colours and I call these “formed paintings”. Oxidizing with acid has become my favourite finish. It is natural, organic and requires no maintenance. It heals itself. It changes colour when wet or dry. It is rich and ever-changing and so has a life of its own. I have exhibited at Arts Sutton in duo and trio shows and was selected as the featured artist for the Annual Fund Raiser of 1992. Other exhibitions include les Cotes d’Ardoise, Dunham and Le Jardin de Sculpture, Sutton where, last year, I was honoured with a retrospective exhibit of my ten years of work.

I have pieces in private collections in Westchester, NY - Pasadena, CA – Waltham, MA - Erin and Pickering, ON – Montreal, Knowlton and Sutton, QC. and as public art on rue Principale in Sutton.

CP 388 Waterloo, QC. JOE 2NO – 450 539 1964 – ddavidson@cooptel.qc.ca

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