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Themes - Arts
Raymonde April
(1953- ) Photographer
L'Arrivée des figurants
Photograph
1997
L'Arrivée des figurants, by Raymonde April, 1997
Source
Born in Moncton, New Brunswick, Raymonde April studied at the art college in Rivière-du-Loup, then at the École des arts visuels of the Université Laval, in Québec.
A photographer since the 1970s, Raymonde April has an elegant style that incorporates the self-portrait, the everyday, the use of black and white, and the use of subtle contrast techniques (close-up and wide angles, appearance and disappearance, symbolism and imagery). Her photographs form narrative sequences and seem to capture a moment in time, or provide a series of images representing a fixed period of time.
Raymonde April uses evocative and poetic titles to tell the narrative history of her photographs and to create associations between her images. Her great talent consists of marrying autobiography, the documentary and the everyday with fictional and theatrical settings. According to critics, Raymonde April has contributed to the evolution of photography in Canada by starting a new trend in photography with her tableaux and her streams of images.
The artist touches on various forms of art: portraits, landscapes, travelogues, diaries and photographs of still life. She takes her photographs with an awareness of being in a [live] tableau. Her best-known photographs include: L'Arrivée des figurants (1996), Cabanes dans le ciel (1984-1985), Parade (1986), Car j'ignore où tu fuis (1993), Je vais partir dans les montagnes (1986), La Tasse blanche (1991), Hommes écoutant battre son cœur (1990), La Corneille et les Canards (1993), Journée de chutes (1990), De l'autre côté des baisers (1985-1986), Le Portrait de Michèle (1993), Les Cœurs en bois de rêve (1988) and Une mouche au paradis (1988).
Raymonde April has participated in numerous collective exhibits in Canada and in Europe, including: "Visual Facts: Photography and Video by Eight Artists in Canada" held in Glasgow, Sheffield and London (1985); "Montréal Art Contemporain", ELAC, held in Lyon (1985); "The Impossible Self", held at the Winnipeg Art Gallery (1988); "Montréal 89: Aspects de la photographie québécoise", held in Montréal and "Art Junction International" held in Nice, France (1989).
Her photographs are exhibited regularly in Canada and in Europe. Her works are in the private and public collections of various cultural institutions such as the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art, the Musée du Québec, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery at Concordia University, the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography in Ottawa, the Canada Council and the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris.
In addition to her photography, Raymonde April has a career in teaching. She has taught at the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Ottawa and currently teaches photography in the Studio Arts Department at Concordia University in Montréal. She is also one of the founders of La Chambre Blanche, a centre for artists in Québec.
Resources of Exhibits
Montréal Museum of Contemporary Art, Montréal, Canada
Gilles Gheerbant Galleries, Montréal, Canada
Gilles Gheerbant Galleries, Montréal, Canada
René Blouin Gallery, Montréal
Concordia University Gallery, Montréal
La Caixa Foundation, Tarragona, Spain
Musée Arthur Rimbaud, Charleville-Mézières, France
La Galerie Verticale, Québec City, Quebec
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa
Rencontres internationales de la photographie, Arles, France
Galerie Rochefort, Montréal
Resources
April, Raymonde. "À l'aéroport (au cours des années, j'ai pris des photos que ma mémoire consciente aurait sans doute effacées)". Liberté. Vol. 42, no 3 (septembre 2000) P. 54-55
____. April, Davey, Grauerholz. Kingston, Ont. : Agnes Etherington Art Centre, c1985. 35 p.
____. Réservoirs soupirs : photographies 1986-1992. Avant-propos de Gaëtan Gosselin ; textes de Régis Durand et de Michèle Waquant. [Québec] : VU, Centre d'animation et de diffusion de la photographie, 1993. 70 p.
Baillargeon, Richard. "Reflecting upon this landscape : the imagery of Raymonde April". Frame of mind : viewpoints on photography in contemporary Canadian art. Edited by Daina Augaitis ; introduction by Charlotte Townsend-Gault. Banff, Alta : Walter Phillips Gallery, c1993. P. 92-103
Banff Centre Press. Raymonde April, Contributor [online]. Banff Centre Press, 2002. [Cited April 30, 2002]. Access: www.banffcentre.ca/press/contributors/abc/april_r/
Bellavance, Guy. "Raymonde April/George Legrady". Parachute. No 47 (juin-juillet-août 1987). P. 34-36
Bénichou, Anne. "Raymonde April : le présent photographique". Magazine parcours. No 13 (printemps 1994). P. 33-35, 87
Bérard, Serge. "Raymonde April autour du portrait". Parachute. No 43 (juin-juillet-août 1986). P. 10-13
____. Raymonde April : Tout embrasser [online]. Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery of Concordia University, 2001. [Cited April 30, 2002]. Access: http://ellengallery.concordia.ca/exhibit.html
Durand, Régis. "Raymonde April : des routes ou des parcours d'images... ". CV photo. No 29 (hiver 1994). P. 16-25, 33
L'encyclopédie Canada 2000. Montréal : Stanké, 2000. P. 109
Gingras, Nicole ; April, Raymonde. "Le Regard amoureux = The loving gaze". Parachute. No 77 (janvier-février-mars 1995). P. 18-25
Gingras, Nicole. Raymonde April : les fleuves invisibles. Joliette, Québec : Musée d'art de Joliette, c1997. 166 p.
Horne, Stephen. Image, double, shadow : Raymonde April, Lise Bégin. Curated by Stephen Horne. Halifax : Anna Leonowens Gallery, 1986. 19 p.
Legendre, Robert, et al. "Fiction". CV photo. No 32 (automne 1995). P. 53-59, 65
McGrath, Donald. "Raymonde April". Parachute. No 74 (avril-mai-juin 1994). P. 35-36
Paquet, Claire. Raymonde April, Moritz Gaede : les mots figurés. Montréal : Dazibao, [1995?]. P. 15
Payant, René. "L'étrange vérité de la photographie". Spirale. No 62 (été 1986). P. 21
Roumanes, Jacques-Bernard. "Raymonde April : choses à la surface du monde". Vie des arts. No 168 (automne 1997). P. 30-33
St-Gelais, Thérèse. "Raymonde April". Parachute. No 90 (avril-mai-juin 1998). P. 39-40
