The exhibition La promesse du ciel (The Promise of Heaven) is the prologue to this vast project, combining painting, film and video installation, and takes us to meet the protagonists who express this excess energy through hypercapitalism, religion and nihilism. In a world where excesses and imbalances are exacerbated by the thirst for power, egocentrism and generalized inertia, Martin Bureau takes a lucid and abrasive look at the illusions shaped by our hypermodern societies. Through striking scenes, as surreal as they are familiar, he explores the fragile balance between utopia and dystopia, questions our search for meaning and reference points, and interrogates our relationship to sacredness and spirituality. The works, combining watercolour, acrylic and oil, offer a rich and complex materiality that supports the artist’s incisive statements.

The short film La promesse du ciel (The Promise of Heaven) also accompanies the twenty paintings in this presentation and sets the tone for the current project.

Martin Bureau uses the mediums of painting, video installation, and documentary film to examine the intersection of art and politics. Inspired by world events, his work offers a candid and critical statement on the social, economic, and cultural issues that surround us. Notions of colonialism, catastrophe, and entropy are recurring themes in his body of work.

His work is part of many institutional and corporate collections such as the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the Musée d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul, the Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent, the National Assembly of Quebec, Desjardins, Loto-Québec, SSQ Financial Group, Librairy and Archives Canada, Bibliothèque et Archives nationale du Québec and private collections in Canada, The United States and Europe.

Martin Bureau lives and works in Quebec City.

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