Sylvain Goudreau is a painter with over 25 years of experience. He is an undergraduate of Fine Arts from Concordia University in Montreal. Goudreau has always had a vivid interest in people and throughout his career they have remained the primary source of his work. Through an expressionistic approach Goudreau’s moving work portrays today’s urban man who needs and seeks approval. Exceptional street artists who depend on passers-by for their survival are rarely appreciated to their full potential due to an inappropriate time and place of performance, or to onlookers’ value judgements. Set in the same urban environment as his talented street artists, Goudreau enjoys painting some famous artists who have succeeded. Goudreau chooses artists who come from humble beginnings as a sign of hope to those who seek recognition for their work. Contrasting the same urban setting and a recognizable accomplished artist further emphasises the emergence of great artists from less fortunate milieus. Goudreau’s artists, painted in the expressionistic fashion of Soutine and Matisse, are set in an impressionistic and abstract expressionistic milieu. Goudreau opposes the two artistic movements by portraying natural elements such as the sky and water in the impressionists’ manner, whereas the abstract expressionists’ influence is recognized in the metropolitan setting. The duality of these movements reflects today’s urban reality where cities seem ubiquitous, yet are mere isles in the face of Nature. Goudreau sets over a century’s worth of artistic research in a single painting. He embraces the work of great artists from different artistic movements and time and integrates it to his own creations. Rather than denying the past, Goudreau builds from it by joining impressionism, expressionism and abstract expressionism to his work. The amalgamation of these three artistic movements is the signature of this unique contemporary artist.

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