Claes, Antoine

Born in 1971, Montreal native Antoine Claes studies visual arts at Collège St-Laurent. He then trains at the École Supérieure des Arts Visuels de Cambres in Belgium, obtains his degree in design from Concordia University, and goes on to attend the Studio de la Montagne in Montreal.

Having discovered a passion for photography when in college, Antoine refers to that discipline in his art, the primary source of inspiration of which is the urban landscape: « Architectonic structures such as warehouse windows, factories or construction sites are the backdrops of our daily lives. They are archetypes that I use as models. ». It follows that geometric organisation, verticality and the treatment of light dominate the artist’s work, in which he explores diverse forms of pictorial duality such as opacity/transparency, obscurity/brilliance, rigidity/fluidity.

The abundant light in Antoine Claes’s paintings conveys emotion and stimulates the imagination, and supplies a space for matter to construct itself.