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ARTICLE IN THE MANHATTAN ARTS MAGAZINE MARCH / APRIL 1993, ISSUE |
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Lucie Bilodeau Opens Windows to Other Realities by Alexandra Shaw Lucie Bilodeau was born in Canada and at the age of 14 attended the L.A. Mission Renaissance School in Montreal where she learned to master technique under the instructional guidance of Larry Gluck. Now, at the age of 25, she is enthralling viewers on a very profound and deeply visceral level. With an inimitable style and approach, her technical proficiency and clarity of purpose support a compelling kind of art that communicates with an immediate, and long-lasting impact. In paintings that harness a spark of divine light - a mysterious and radiant glow - Ms. Bilodeau's subjects are witnessed as existing in two worlds simultaneously - the physical and the spiritual. The convincing realism with which they are painted is expressed through an impeccable attention to details and texture. In Only the Body Withers, an ageless spirit gazes onto her aging body. Inspired by the artist's grandmother, the painting touches the hearts and souls of those who view it, and expresses that so often unspoken reality. We are reminded not to judge or be judged according to our chronological age; rather, we are ageless souls embodied in many different kinds of physical appearances. The details in the painting reveal a falling rose petal, the repetition of the beauty mark, earring and robe. The painting exudes balance, rendered with an exceptional softness of brush. Night Voyage is an intriguing work of art - a resting body and a spirit soaring above and beyond the realities of the room and indeed the universe. Ms. Bilodeau's paintings expand our minds to see through the windows into other worlds. She creates in un a silent place where we can become connected to a greater awareness of ourselves and the world which we inhabit. Ms. Bilodeau is a recipient of many awards including the international 1990 Jury's First Prize and People's Choice First Prize in the International Arts Guild Competition. She has won eight awards in the national "Le Cercle des Artistes Peintres du Quebec."
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