Patrice Desilets

Patrice Désilets’ artistic approach reveals a constant quest for balance between the expressiveness of figurative art and the escape from abstraction. Navigating with ease over this expanse, Désilets summons in his paintings a universe where the characters, with sometimes evaporated outlines, at other precise moments, occupy a central place. These figures, born from his fertile imagination, are so characteristic that they give his work an indelible signature. In every brushstroke, every spot of color, the emotional impulse of the creator is felt, affirming his belief that artistic authenticity lies in the direct, tactile experience of painting.

Refusing the mediation of traditional tools which could dilute this visceral connection with the canvas, Désilets prefers spontaneity. He deploys a palette of diverse materials—vibrant acrylics, dynamic pencils, soft oil pastels, and collages of varying textures—that he orchestrates with his hands to lay the foundations of his work. It is in this controlled chaos, on these canvases imbued with affect, that the unique atmospheres of his paintings are born. From these abstract backgrounds, the artist brings out characters who, like an ancient choir, will narrate the story captured in the canvas. Only brushes and other instruments perfect the painting, not to create, but to refine, to detail.

Patrice Désilets has cultivated his art far from the beaten path. As a child, each surface became a potential canvas where he transcribed the epics of his inner world. Studies in fine arts were only a brief interlude, a path too marked for those who aspire to unfettered creative freedom. By establishing himself as a self-taught artist, he emancipated his practice from any academic expectations, preferring to follow the rhythm of his own inspirations.

Born in Grand-Mère, Patrice Désilets carried his artistic heritage through the landscapes of his life to finally establish his workshop on the outskirts of Montreal. It is here, in this space where the city meets the tranquility of the suburbs, that Désilets continues his intimate dialogue with the canvas, developing a visual language that transcends the simple categorization of mixed media to pose itself as a sensory and emotional experience . Each work thus becomes a window into the soul of an artist for whom the act of creation is as vital and spontaneous as breathing itself.