ANNIE DESCOTEAUX

  • Would you introduce yourself in a few words? 

My name is Annie Descoteaux. I am an almost 37 years old artist who has been living and working in Montreal since 1998.

I’m from Quebec and moved to the city to study Art at Concordia University that is a strictly English-speaking school.

  • Where does this interest for art come from?

When I was 7, I had sort of a brain wave when an assignment was to draw my entire class as the animals of Noah’s Ark. I had picked poodles and they were so well rendered that my classmates came over to see my work and congratulated me! That was my first “triumph” and I’ve thought of myself as an artist ever since.

  • What is your work’s operative word in your mind?

Precision (and humor)!

  • Who are your inspirations?

The list of the artists I worship and who inspire me is long, I couldn’t name them all… I can give you a few names in no particular order: Robert Crumb, Camille Henrot, Henri Matisse, Gary Hume, Nathalie du Pasquier, Erwan and Ronan Bouroullec, Rachel Harrison, Michael Craig-Martin, Isa Genzken, David Altmejd, Ettore Sottsass, Nathalie Lété, etc… It’s all over the place!

  • What is your favorite painting that we’ll get to admire at the Home Alone exhibit next to other artists and why?

To tell you the truth, I don’t really have a favorite since the 3 paintings presented at the exhibition are part of a series –I couldn’t have picked one in particular—if I could have shown everything, it would have been great, but as far as transport is concerned, you have to make choices. These works were conceived for the literary quarterly magazine Estuaire (Estuary), published in Quebec. I have free rein to illustrate the four 2015 issues.

  • What are your future projects?

I’m very happy to go back to school in September and start my Masters in Sculpture, still at Concordia in Montreal. I have chosen to go back to academia to explore, be confronted to matter, get my hands dirty a little! I’m looking forward to seeing what’s going to come out of it…