What: 1 Earth: Sharing Space artist reception
Who: Daniel Poisson
When: Saturday, Jan. 5, 7 p.m.
Where: MY Millennium Place
Admission: Free
Every time artist Daniel Poisson finishes his artwork these days, he has to fight the urge to splatter and scratch at the canvas.
The past ritual is sort of a celebration on finishing the piece; the unleashing of the last drops of creative adrenaline and shaking it off like a dog drying itself after coming out of a lake.
Release and control. Release and control.
The two polar opposites ebb and flow within Poisson’s skilled and passionate paintbrush which seeks to destroy and elevate, drawing inspiration from pictures of African tribal members. He creates stencils from the photos taken by his father, Donald, layering them on top of paint and patterns.
“We’ve kind of destroyed the tribal people of the planet; I let people know it,” Poisson said of his artwork. “Essentially I am destroying artwork and overloading it, but I am overloading it with colours that are uplifting, so I believe it creates a positive, spiritual message.”
This spiritual message will be conveyed in Poisson’s first solo exhibit in Whistler, called 1 Earth: Sharing Space, at MY Millennium Place for the month of January. An artist reception will open the exhibit on Saturday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. in the upstairs gallery.
The showcase includes two settings. On one side, a dozen of Poisson’s giant colourful acrylics will be showcased; on the other, six of his father’s photographs used in his painting works.
“Visually, it’s going to be overwhelming,” Poisson said. “It will be a real visual contrast. You’ll get the intensity and colour of my work with larger-than-life African faces and then large black and white photos on the other.
This technique of layering shadows of African profiles with more layers of paint, shapes and even images (sometimes just small photos used as a tile mosaic) create Poisson’s signature look.
The process resulted from his decision to paint live at the Whistler Music and Arts Festival in the summer of 2006. Poisson wanted to entertain or at the very least shock village strollers.
“It couldn’t be average and it had to be large and overwhelming,” he said. “I had to make people look at it and think ‘wow’, or ‘what happened?’ or ‘what is he doing?’”
Often reactions are a mixture of both, with Poisson’s live art shows in high demand around Whistler. He’s painted at the Telus World Ski and Snowboard Festival’s Brave Art exhibition, ARTrageous and LUNA Harvest Art Fest, just to name a few. He’s broadening his audience base to Vancouver in the new year with a solo show at FALCIONI’S Café gallery where underground, street-oriented art is showcased.
“It’s right in Yaletown,” Poisson said. “A lot of up and coming people are in Vancouver. They appreciate eccentric and off-the-wall artwork. I think it’s a rad opportunity.”
Poisson’s artwork definitely has an underground, urban feel to it. Spray paint and acrylics connect and crash through piercing eyes and unusual forms. Poisson’s first artworks were very chaotic, like rush hour traffic. He’s trying to “clean up” his art, withholding the final stage of splashing and splattering on the end product.
“It’s hard not to do destruction at the end,” he said. “I feel like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum. I throw charcoal and splatters all over the place. It’s a real mental test. It’s hard for me to step back and say ‘don’t do it.’”
While his paintings may look haphazard, Poisson’s artistic process is anything but. Each painting technique, each cross hatch and circle is thought through layer by layer. He is photographing each stage of his paintings. He intends to use the images to create a book on his artwork.
“It’s not an accident,” he said of his work. “It may look like an accident. It’s not a mistake that I took (a work) that far.”
After breaking both of his ankles snowboarding, he decided to give up his 18-year love of the sport and devote his efforts and finances to his artwork. Not an easy choice in the expensive town of Whistler, but one he will stick by.
“There is a lot of money poured into Whistler,” he said. “There are a lot of artists doing incredible, awesome, prolific work, but they are spending too much time paying exorbitant rents. I understand that is what it takes to be here, but it would be nice for people to see value in a space where artists can get dirty and pump stuff out.”
Poisson continues to do just that regardless of his financial state. Besides, not buying a snowboard and season pass gives him the winter to hunker down and paint.
“A very famous artist named Picasso said, ‘I don’t paint what I see. I paint what I think,’” Poisson paraphrased. “I am sure during his time people thought he was a wack-job. Even if you aren’t an artist and know nothing about art, people know who he is. So when you see something in art that you haven’t seen before, give it a chance. I am never going to stop what I’m doing…. Every time I get money from my art plywood gets cut. I hitch hike to Van(couver) and buy bags full of art supplies. My girlfriend has to feed me. It’s either art supplies or food.”
