Galleria Dante Presents Yvan Genest and Jean Gabriel Lambert Opening at Southside Shuffle Claire Guarniere - Galleria Dante
March 15, 2016

As part of the Southside Shuffle in Old Town Vallarta, Galleria Dante invites you to the cocktail opening exhibitions of Yvan Genest and Jean Gabriel Lambert on Friday March 18th 2016 from 6:00 until 10:00 pm. Come meet these exciting artists!

Yvan Genest

Yvan's career as a painter had unconventional beginnings. At first, his artistic temperament drove him to music. From the age of 17, he traveled throughout Europe as a singer performer until his return to Montreal, many years later. But without the tradition of coffee shops & bars where one can sing, as in Paris, Yvan couldn't make a decent living as a singer. So he started selling watercolors, door to door and on the street. This survival activity was the beginning of an unforeseen but fertile ground for his unique imagination. Since his first watercolors, 31 years ago, Yvan has lived, painted and exhibited in many cities and countries, while building his unique iconography. He has created thousands of original paintings, drawings, watercolors, pastels, etchings, engravings and digital works.

An international painter, he now shares his time between Montreal and Puerto Vallarta. This tall, gentle-natured man created his first exhibit in 1976, at Galeria La Chamade in Rennes, France. Eight years later his reputation followed him to Montreal, where he exhibited at the Galerie Au Coin des Artistes. In the mid 90's his work was introduced to Vallarta and ever since he has been one of the main artists of the Vallarta Art scene. His experiences with different cities, other people and their customs are reflected is his paintings - airplanes, fish, trips, people. In Mexico he is particularly inspired by the freedom he finds in Mexican crafts and the colorful life here. With his light, luminous and eye-catching colors, his distorted and imaginative forms and figures, Genest brings to life a fascinating world which parallels our own.. He will tell you that he was greatly influenced by expressionism of different periods, such as Francis Bacon, Picasso, Satin and Chagall.  Yvan has an incredible sense for color. His paintings are bright and cheerful, all combined with sense of freedom and fun. Even if you do not understand them, you want to see more of his paintings and are compelled to purchase one.

To celebrate his thirty years of non-stop creation, Yvan Genest is publishing a fabulous table book about his art, an illustrated anthology that will cover three decades of his art, including his European, American and Mexican periods. It will include many quotes (from Yvan but also from artists he admires) about art and the practice of art in general and in particular as well as a biography. The anthology will be illustrated with hundreds of photos of Yvan’s works and studios over the years. The book is scheduled for release in fall 2016! This show will represent two of his best-known styles:  “abstract iconography” & “street scenes.”  NEW to his collection this year are also collages and watercolors!

Jean Gabriel Lambert

Colors, movement, depth, light and colors again: Jean-Gabriel’s paintings are thrilling and explosive. From his first ink and pastel scribbles to his most recent acrylic canvases, this artist is telling us a story that has begun more than two decades ago.

A self-taught painter, Jean-Gabriel first studied Pharmacy. He then enrolled in theater school upon earning his degree. Jean-Gabriel has performed on stage and has also starred in a few movies. He later added singing to his artistic accomplishments.

Driven by an irrepressible desire to create, it’s finally in the visual arts that Jean-Gabriel finds his true passion. Drawing and painting opened up the possibility for an unimpeded daily practice: it’s this great freedom that Jean-Gabriel has long sought. From the moment that he began painting, he knew that he’d pursue this endeavor for the rest of his life.

For the following three years, Jean-Gabriel devoted himself seriously to painting and took a few technical courses. He first acquainted himself with large-format oil painting before switching to acrylics. As he had always desired, he starts practicing his art daily and gradually asserts his distinctive style. His numerous trips to Mexico, which has become his second home, provide much of his inspiration.

Jean-Gabriel continually finds in his Montreal studio the same energy that propels him towards his daily ritual: his improvised movements are triggered by music and meditation. A tangible context stemming from reality is at the core of each of Jean-Gabriel’s paintings. Whether it’s Mexico’s colors or an emotion related to friendship or love, each painting is the realization of a simple concept. It is sometimes through series that the artist, with thoroughness and wonderful freedom, creates his artwork such as his “Piedras preciosas”, his finely crafted and colorfully sparkling gems.

Holding the secret to the personal story that he has been telling from the very start, Jean-Gabriel gives us the clues through his canvases’ titles: El Espejo, La Fiesta, Reforma, La Pura Vida, Madeleine, Volver, etc. The beauty in Jean-Gabriel Lambert’s art rests in the multitude of layers in his paintings. There is the artist’s story and all the stories of each spectator. If they differ, there is always however an emotion as powerful that Jean-Gabriel’s artwork infuses to its public.

Since 2000 Jean-Gabriel has been represented by several art galleries in Mexico and Canada. He sells on average sixty paintings yearly to American, Mexican and Canadian collectors. His public has remained faithful throughout the years which Jean-Gabriel greatly appreciates. He enjoys meeting people and sharing with them. "Love that we never tire of," says the artist, enriched from these exchanges.

Galleria Dante is located at #269 Basilio Badillo in Old Town Vallarta. Telephone is (322) 222-2477. While there, visit the upstairs wine bar, Di Vino Dante.

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