2023-06-22 23:15:00
Echo, 2023
Entitled Echo, this mural pays homage to painter, printmaker and muralist Rita Letendre, a pioneer of abstract art in Quebec. At the forefront of artistic experience, TYXNA project artists create murals that are both immersive and sensory. Recognized for their art of combining different pictorial styles, they succeed here in illustrating all the richness of Rita Letendre’s work. The collective thus brings together a realistic black and white portrait of the artist that they integrate into the abstract and colorful environment typical of his work. The different textures used breathe movement and dynamism into the composition. We recognize, among other things, the diagonal stripes and the arrow pattern, characteristics of Rita Letendre’s practice.
Rita Letendre, an exceptional Drummondvilloise
Born in Drummondville in 1928, Rita Letendre is a visual artist of Quebec and Abenaki descent. At the end of the 1940s, she made a brief stint at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, which she left because of her overly formal teaching. She then discovered surreal and abstract art, then frequented the group of Automatists. She also participated in the mythical exhibition “La Matière Chante” in 1954, presenting her work alongside Paul-Émile Borduas, Jean-Paul Riopelle and Fernand Leduc, in particular.
The following years, she stayed in France, Italy, Israel and the United States, a period marked by a prolific production. She also produces several public art murals for major Canadian and American cities. Rita Letendre moved to Toronto in 1970 and remained there until her death in 2021.
Having become an emblematic figure of Canadian abstract painting, she received, during her career, the most prestigious visual arts awards in the country, such as the Governor General’s Award of Canada, in 2010, and the Paul-Émile-Borduas Prize, in 2016. It should be noted that in 2017, Rita Letendre was honored by the City of Drummondville, which inducted her as an Officer of the Order of Drummondville, the highest distinction in terms of civic recognition granted to people exception from us.
The Cultural Development Agreement: support for local culture
This project was supported by the Cultural Development Agreement, which is an opportunity for the City of Drummondville and the Ministry of Culture and Communications to align their cultural actions on the territory and to fund, in equal parts, structuring projects that have significant citizen benefits.
Note that a public inauguration is scheduled for July 6 in the evening, with a light projection on the mural. Full details of the event will be revealed soon.
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