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Micheline Gingras

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Micheline Gingras (born 1947, Québec City, Canada) is a Canadian-born American artist known for large-scale collage and mixed-media works addressing political, social, and environmental themes. Working across painting, sculpture, collage, photography, and drawing, she first gained recognition in the early 1970s for her Mechanical Hand series, which was exhibited in Canada, the United States and France. Since the late 2000s, she has developed an extensive body of mixed-media collage works combining newspaper imagery and painted elements. Gingras taught art at Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn, New York, from 1980 to 2017.

Early life and education

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Micheline Gingras was born in Québec City, Canada, on December 16, 1947.[1] The sixth of seven children, Gingras was born to Roméo Gingras and Rosée Dubois.[2] Her parents both came from subsistence farming families outside the city before relocating to pursue economic opportunities in Québec City.[2] Gingras pursued her studies at École des beaux-arts de Montréal and graduated in 1969 with a Master of Fine Arts.[3] In 1970, Gingras moved to New York City.[4]

Early work and recognition (1970–1980)

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Gingras’s earliest major body of work was the Mechanical Hand series (1971–1973), consisting of paintings, drawings, and a sculptural object depicting a large hand with hinges at the joints, placed within industrial or urban landscapes.[5] The series was first exhibited at the Infinity Group Gallery in Chelsea, New York in 1972.[6] Soon after, the exhibition traveled to Canada and France as “La Main Mécanique.” It went on view at La Maison des Arts La Sauvegarde in Montréal in 1972 and the Musée du Québec in 1973.[2][7][3] In 1975, the series was chosen to represent Canadian painting at Centre Culturel Canadien (Canadian Cultural Centre) in Paris; also installed was a solo-exhibition of paintings by Guido Molinari.[8]

To follow, Gingras produced several additional painting series throughout the 1970s. Among them was Blanc sur Blanc, also known as, White on White in English. The show included small and large scaled paintings and collage on canvas. Describing the exhibition for The Montreal Star, art critic Henry Lehmann explained that each “huge grey canvas” was “filled with gigantic human hands holding substances such as soap, feathers, shaving cream, and toothpaste. Gingras has intervened on what are actually huge photo reproductions…”[9] Throughout 1976, the show was presented at Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, the Kornblee Gallery in New York, and the Canadian Cultural Centre in London.[10][11]

In 1975, a panel of prominent Canadian curators and gallerists were asked to name “promising artists” from Canada.[12] Fifteen artists were selected by panelists including Paul Wong; Karen Wilkin, and Roald Nasgaard.[12] Upon being selected by the committee, Gingras’ paintings were described in an accompanying article in Canada’s National Post, “Design and color, strange perspective, a photo-realistic attention to detail and the extraordinary juxtaposition of seemingly ordinary elements all tend to create a nightmarish atmosphere, especially in her Mechanical Hand series.”[13]  Later in 1980, when Canadian curator and writer Guy Robert published La Peinture au Quebec (Painting in Quebec) in 1980, he juxtaposed Gingras’ work with that of Jennifer Dickson, stating they both “offer us unsettling glimpses into the human condition.”[14]

By the late 1970s Gingras became disillusioned with the commercial gallery system and largely withdrew from exhibiting in commercial venues. In 1980 Gingras joined the faculty of Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn Heights, where she taught art primarily to fourth- and fifth-grade students.[15] She remained at the school until 2017.[15]

Collaborations with Raymon Elozua

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Gingras met the artist Raymon Elozua in 1981 and the two began an ongoing collaborative partnership.[16][17] For their first joint project, Elozua constructed ceramic models of dilapidated drive-in movie screens, onto which Gingras painted imagery of cinematic couples.[18]

In 1989, the pair participated in a residency at the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Maine, where they produced a group of figurative sculptures that combined terra cotta, steel, and oil paint.[18] In 1992, they collaborated on a series of nearly life-sized works known as the Demon and Sirens series.[17] This work would be featured at the American Craft Museum (now the Museum of Arts and Design) in Confrontational Clay, a group exhibition curated by Judith S. Schwartz which explored socially-critical ceramic art.[19][20] The sculptures were constructed from welded rebar and wire armatures covered with terra-cotta clay.[19]

Later work

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Beginning in the late 2000s Gingras returned to full-time studio production and developed a large body of mixed-media collage works made primarily from newspaper imagery and painted elements.[21] These works often combine mass-media images with hand-painted components to create layered compositions addressing political conflict, environmental crisis, and social anxiety.[22][23]

Museum collections

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Gingras's work is held in the collections of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, the Mint Museum, the Musée de Joliette, and the Yale University Art Gallery.

Personal life

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Gingras lives in Brooklyn, NY and maintains a studio in Mountain Dale, New York, with artist Raymon Elozua, with whom she shares a long-standing artistic partnership.[24][23][25] There she and Elozua opened artist studios, an exhibition space, and the Mountaindale Biennial.[24]

References

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  1. ^ Parent, Alain (1976). "Introduction". Blanc sur Blanc: Micheline Gingras Peintures 1974-1975 [White on White: Micheline Gingras Paintings 1974-1975]. Montréal: Musee d’Art Contemporain. p. 6.
  2. ^ a b c Elozua, Raymon (2024). "Introduction". Violent Beauty: Micheline Gingras. Brooklyn, New York: Know Press. p. 4.
  3. ^ a b Plamondon, Lise; Beaudoin, Lise (January 4, 1974). "Micheline Gingras et 'La Main Mécanique'". Le Fils. 9 (16): 22.
  4. ^ "'Blanc sur blanc' au MAC". Le Jour. January 13, 1976. p. 21.
  5. ^ Nichols Goodeve, Thyrza (2024). "E/Motion in Time: The World Building Collages of Micheline Gingras". Violent Beauty: Micheline Gingras. Brooklyn, New York: Know Press. p. 32.
  6. ^ "Exhibitions". Art in America. 7 (1): 63. September–October 1972.
  7. ^ Nixon, Virginia (January 5, 1974). "Our own Chateau: Memorabilia for every taste". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. p. 26.
  8. ^ "Guido Molinari et Micheline Gingras représentent la peinture canadienne à Paris" [Guido Molinari and Micheline Gingras represent Canadian painting in Paris]. Le Nouvelliste. Trois-Rivières, Quebec. November 23, 1974. p. 29.
  9. ^ Lehmann, Henry (January 28, 1976). "Gallery Roundup". The Montreal Star. pp. D-2.
  10. ^ "'Blanc sur blanc' au MAC" ['White on white' at MAC]. LE JOUR. January 13, 1976. p. 21.
  11. ^ "Advertisement for Kornblee, New York". Art in America: 14. March–April 1976.
  12. ^ a b "Painters with promise". National Post. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. December 13, 1975. p. 12.
  13. ^ "Painters with promise". National Post. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. December 13, 1975. p. 13.
  14. ^ Robert, Guy (1980). La peinture au Québec: Depuis ses origines [Painting in Quebec: From Its Origins]. Québec: Iconia. p. 155. ISBN 9782890010017.
  15. ^ a b Adler, Isabel H. (June 2016). "Micheline's Farewell Exhibition". The Saint Ann's Ram. 19 (7): 1–2, 6.
  16. ^ Johnson, Garth (2022). "Identifying Elozua". Raymon Elozua: Structure & Dissonance. Syracuse, New York: The Everson Museum of Art. p. 10.
  17. ^ a b von Ziegesar, Peter. "Raymon Elozua: Fire and Steel". American Ceramics. 11 (44).
  18. ^ a b Leffingwell, Edward (2003). Constructing Elozua: A Retrospective 1973-2003. Charlotte, North Carolina: The Mint Museum. p. 32.
  19. ^ a b Schwartz, Judith S (2008). Confrontational Clay. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0812241396.
  20. ^ Johnson, Ken (March 9, 2001). "Confrontational Clay' 'The Artist as Social Critic'". The New York Times. pp. E36. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  21. ^ Climisi, Jerry (November 1, 2010). "Artist Brings 'Other Worlds' to Art Sites". Riverhead Patch. Riverhead, New York.
  22. ^ Nichols Goodeve, Thyrza (2024). "E/Motion in Time: The World Building Collages of Micheline Gingras". Violent Beauty: Micheline Gingras. Brooklyn, New York: Know Press. p. 37.
  23. ^ a b "Micheline Gingras, presents "Uniting Our States"". Sullivan County Democrat. July 12, 2024. p. 9.
  24. ^ a b Johnson, Garth (2022). "Identifying Elozua". Raymon Elozua: Structure & Dissonance. Syracuse, New York: The Everson Museum of Art. p. 15.
  25. ^ "Made in Mountaindale". Delaware & Hudson Canvas. August 2015. p. 1.
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