Au Fil de l'Art: Dominic Besner

Opening Vernissage | Thursday, September 18, 6 - 9 pm.
Special Press and VIP Preview | Wednesday, September 17, 12:00 – 7:00 pm
Dominic Besner will be available for interviews from September 16 – 19

Experience this exciting exhibition of 23 new works by Dominic Besner, accompanied by a unique fashion collection designed exclusively for Au Fil de l'Art. This young, dynamic mixed media artist from Montreal uses dreamlike characters, brilliant colours, and architectural elements to achieve an unparalleled richness and depth to his works. Besner's unique vision has inspired fashion designers from Morocco, Montreal, and Toronto to join this amazing exhibition. These designers' remarkable creations will be exhibited with Besner's dynamic large-scale pieces, creating a marriage between the two mediums.

Fashion has always been of its time, and direct links have continuously existed between artists and designers. During the first half of the twentieth century in France, fashion designers were proposing clothing with true artistic dimensions. Paul Poiret's flower printed dresses commissioned by painter Raoul Dufy and Elsa Schiaparelli's surrealist dresses in collaboration with Salvador Dali are truly iconographic in this approach to design. Later in the 1960's, the trend continued; Yves Saint Laurent created a buzz in 1966 with his collection "Mondrian" and avant-garde lines inspired by the art of the Dutch painters.

More recently, the Moroccan museum La Villa des Arts de Casablanca was the venue for the first exposition of Au Fil de l'Art. Three Moroccan stylists (Karim Tassi, Albert Oiknine and Mohamed Lakhdar) participated in the initial project. Bringing together art and design principles just as their predecessors had, it was the lines, colours, forms and textures found in Dominic Besner's paintings that inspired their splendid caftans. In Montreal last November, designers Andy Thê-Anh, Antonio Ortega, Claudette Floyd (Rush Couture), Denis Gagnon, Envers par Yves Jean Lacasse and Yso joined this exciting venture.

This September, local fashion designers Kirk Pickersgill (of Greta Constantine) and David Dixon will participate in the Toronto exposition of Au Fil de l'Art, once again drawing inspiration from Dominic Besner's paintings to create distinctive fashion statements. Presented by Thompson Landry Gallery, Proaction and Mensi & Rioux, Au Fil de l'Art offers an elaborate dialog between art and fashion.

Au Fil de l'Art is conceptualized as a progressive exposition, moving from one venue to the next; local talents at each destination will be inserting a piece of their own individuality into the show, yet finding commonality in the creative elements of artworks by Dominic Besner. Au Fil de l'Art will continue its worldwide tour after the Toronto exposition, evolving and growing as it crosses borders and oceans.

Au Fil de l'Art is truly groundbreaking in the way it moves beyond the conventional art exhibition. By bringing together artistic mediums and disciplines through cross-cultural references, this exhibit has truly brought back the excitement and passion around the relationships and intersections between art and fashion.

View more artworks online at www.thompsonlandry.com

For more information or to set up an interview with Dominic Besner, please call Gallery Director Joanne Thompson at 416-364-4955, or email jt@thompsonlandry.com