Incubus’ Choice: Close-up on François Vaillancourt

What message(s) do you want to express through your work?

What I try to convey through my work is the complicity between the artist and the viewer. In some of my paintings, we can find some disparate elements that let space to the viewers to imagine the scenarios and relationships pleasing them between those elements. So there is a play being established rather than a classical artist/contemplator relationship.

Which artists inspire you? Who are your masters?

Some artists from the beginning of the century captivate me, although their influence cannot be perceived in my work. Alphonse Mucha, Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt among others. In a very different kind of work, I also like Sorayama and Frank Frazetta.

What have you gained by being on the internet?

The internet opened doors to me I would not have anticipated in a classical artistic approach. The internet enables me to get a global and immediate show of my work, to sell my works about everywhere without having to pay exorbitant commissions to galleries, and it also helps me through websites like this one to discover the impressive work of other artists who inspire me (and of whom I am often jealous!).

Did the internet enable you to meet new models, to find new exhibit places?

I have not had to work with living models for the moment, but it is possible that in that case I would use the internet to make contacts. On the other hand, this media enabled me to make contacts with different and more traditional exhibit places, allowing people to see my work “in real life”.

Has your work ever been censored? If so, how did you deal with it?

I knock on wood, only good comments up to now, and not the shade of a censorship.

What projects mean a lot to you at the moment?

I am currently working on way bigger canvas than I am comfortable with. I am aiming for a more traditional exhibition this summer if I ever can find a gallery interested in my work. I am also going to put the finishing touches to my website and to create a mailing list to send faster my last creations to those who apreciate my paintings.

Could you tell us a few words about the place you live/work in?

I live in Montreal. I am co-director of creation in an advertising agency during the day, and at night I am taking out my brushes. I do not think I could live one day only from my art, but we still can dream.

Close-up on…