Mysteries in Handmade Paper & Wood

It’s difficult to categorize the works of  Isabelle Leduc:  “Neither completely paintings, nor sculptures . . . . perhaps masks, architectural fragments, shields, organic elements, pebbles and rocks, enigmatic botanical species, pictograms?” critic René Viau once wrote.  (Above: Glossaire, 2008, paper, wood and acrylic, 40,5 x 30 x 8 cm each)

-Fleurs (flowers) bordeaux, mauve, jaune, verte, each 108 x 8.5 x 8.5 cm

The daughter of famous Quebec abstract painter Fernand Leduc works in handmade paper, wood and acrylic paint.  Her recent show at la Galerie d’art d’Outremont, Montreal, was a retrospective of her work since 1984.

Série dansante (dance series), papier marouflé sur bois, acrylique, pigment

Triangles tronqués (truncated triangles), papier acrylique, 62 x 38 x 12 cm

Voyage (façades 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12), papier marouflé sur bois, acrylique, 2010. 122x35x7.5 cm

Scutum, 1988, paper and painted wood, 174 x 110 cm

Pougnart, 1987, paper and painted wood, 185 x 133 cm

Sous le vent, papier, acrylique 2010

From a group exhibition in France, 1999, paper and sand

Photo: André Pichette, La Presse

Are they paintings or sculptures? Masks, totems or religious symbols? Signs borrowed from Egyptian writing a secret code or scout? Geometric figures and architectural motifs? Isabelle Leduc remains calm before the avalanche of questions. La Presse (Translated)

Leduc’s father, abstract painter Fernand Leduc, played a major role in the formation of the group of dissident artists known as the Automatistes, which included such well-known artists as Jean‑Paul Riopelle.