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Born in Montreal in 1947, Gilles Charest has pursued a number of interests before dedicating himself to his painting. Following a brief career as a teacher, Charest and two partners launched an advertising agency, with Charest as the creative director. About fifteen years ago, Gilles, whose father was an artist, began collecting art and antiques via galleries and art auctions.
Noticing Gilles' rekindled interest in fine art, a friend encouraged him to attend a painting workshop. Gilles soon became a regular attendee, under the guidance of Marie Lyne Rosenberg. Five short months later and Gilles was expressing his own style. Not long afterwards, a photograph of a pear found its way into Charest's life and became the subject of intense study and the seed of a new endeavor.
From the initial painting of the pear, Gilles Charest became fascinated with the nuances contained within groupings of apples, cherries and pears. At first Charest kept his work carefully guarded, then friends took note and made purchases. Later, an acquaintance and gallery owner invited Gilles to show his work at the gallery in Sainte-Andre, Quebec. In the late 90's, Gilles retired from advertising and now devotes his time to his artistic avocation. Gilles Charest now shows his acrylic on canvas paintings in Montreal as well.
Gilles Charest's technique is instinctive and physical. He sketches the subject on paper. not on the canvas. Charest blends his paint on the canvas, not on a palette. The technique is called frottis, where the paint is applied with a spatula and then rubbed on the canvas by the artist. The painting begins with the background and the light, which exists within the realm of the canvas, to which Charest adds pears, apples or cherries. The colors tend to be warm, soothing pigments, neither hot nor cold.
Although the paintings consist only of large, gently curving forms of fruit against a backdrop of color, there is something undeniably suggestive about Charest's work. The evocative positioning of the subjects pique the imagination and allude to parallel associations in the mind. The grandeur of the voluptuous curves and the subtle, undertones of translucent pigmentation possess magnetism not typically borne by fruit.
"I paint simple things-pears, apples, cherries-but with strong, complex evocations. I do not seek merely to reproduce my subjects; I want to create a mood, to express a feeling, to convey sensuality and to surprise. My imagination draws yours into a certain ambiguity: Can those really be fruit? The power of suggestion in my work is undeniable." - Gilles Charest
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