In a world where most new art feels sanitized, created to appease algorithms and be consumed through a screen, Montreal-based artist Tomas Dessurault is the antidote. Tomas’ work digs into your chest and grabs your heart with a sharp fist. I met him for the first time at the opening of his recent show, Peace please, at Montreal’s Belgo building. He greeted me with a wide-toothed
smile revealing a mouth full of blood.
His paintings feature bold colours and frantic brush strokes, leading to canvases that feel serene in their violence. This abstract visual language works in symbiosis with the material qualities of the techniques Tomas uses; gesture and multiple layers of acrylic and collage dominate the canvas. His works pay tribute to the passage of time, humanity and its traces.
“I know my art is not easy to approach, because chaos occupies an important place in it. I give myself a lot of freedom in creation and I also constantly blur the lines that allow understanding. My work is a space of profound spirituality.”
Tomas’ art addresses themes of violence and love, emphasizing their complementary and conflicting nature. He explores emerging contradictions through these themes, such as sensitivity, intensity, crisis, chaos, softness, care, and peace. These tensions show up in a constant oscillation between construction and destruction, where the canvas becomes a space
of survival.
The art-school drop out recently expanded his practice from painting to include photography, film, design, and performance. His most recent project, The Devil Within Me presents itself as a series of portraits taken at his studio, in which Tomas had his friend, make-up artist Marianne Côté, play with rudimentary make-up techniques to create two faces in one. These photos deal with new themes in his practice, moving from work that is visceral and introspective, to something more psychic and relational. The multiple arms that can be seen in the photos, as well as the play with the eyes, are some manifestations of this new approach.
“My new work is a lot about community and the other. I feel that there is a double of myself within and that he’s trusting to leave my body. This represents the other, because we are all the mirror of the other and the other is our mirror. That double can be some kind of evil presence. My current practice is about me trying to figure that out.”
A lot of this inner-work comes out in this photoseries through the editing process, which Tomas did with Teo Cisorio, Photographer and Creative Director on the project. “While editing, Teo and I realized we needed to let loose and push the boundaries. So we created something that pays homage to boundless creativity, that celebrates imperfections, without fear.” Photos get drawn on, glued on top of each other, and written on in a style that evokes both Tomas’ paintings but also something else entirely.
This new series represents just a fraction of Tomas’ current explorations. He recently completed his first experimental short film and is working on a new series of drawings. Whether the mediums he chooses to explore are familiar to Tomas or not, the artist is cementing himself as one to watch in the experimental art scene. Look out for a show of his in the coming year; I can guarantee it won’t be one to miss.
Photography/Creative Direction: Teo Cisorio
Make-up Artist: Marianne Côté
This article was written in collaboration with Community Service Mag.