Husbands and wives often rely on each other for strength, emotional support, and healthy criticisms. However, when both are artists, a new dimension of creative energy enters the relationship – and often with outstanding results. One Canadian couple is continuing to ascend with a tantalizing exhibition.
On their own, artists France Jodoin and Kevin Sonmor could be mounting successful fine art careers; together they might be unstoppable. Beginning September 24 and running through October 24 is a joint exhibition of the husband-wife tandem at Pryor Fine Art in Atlanta, Georgia. Both are immensely talented and appear to challenge and build upon one another in creative ways that have left many impressed.
France Jodoin, “A Sky Blue As Forget Me Nots,” oil on linen, 60 x 60 in. (c) Pryor Fine Art 2015
France Jodoin, “Hope is This Thing With Feathers,” oil on linen, 60 x 48 in. (c) Pryor Fine Art 2015
Jodoin works intuitively and instinctually, approaching her canvases without preconceived ideas or expectations. While displaying some representational forms and objects, many of Jodoin’s work have a hazy, atmospheric aura. “My works are not intended as historical depictions,” she asserts, “rather they delve into history as a perspective to create mise-en-scene intended for the contemporary viewer in which a sense of time spent waiting or watching is unambiguous, but few details are given to attach particular cause to what is begin watching, or waited upon.”
France Jodoin, “Just a Little White Lie,” oil on linen, 40 x 40 in. (c) Pryor Fine Art 2015
Sonmor has a different approach, but his aesthetic blends beautifully with Jodoin’s. For Sonmor, he often finds himself fascinated with equestrian paintings, which derive from his love of Gericault, Stubbs, and Muybridge. The gallery reports that, “In his new body of work, The Utilitarians, Sonmor muses on the conventions of historical subjects including equestrian, marine, romantic landscapes, and the vanitas still lifes. Sonmor uses these familiar historical practices, though slight shifting many of their known properties as advertisements for institutional or private power. The resulting paintings celebrate these historical subjects in today’s culture which questioning their utilitarian value in an image-saturated world.”
Kevin Sonmor, “The Beautiful Empty,” oil on linen, 24 x 24 in. (c) Pryor Fine Art 2015
Kevin Sonmor, “The Baptist Study,” oil on linen, 48 x 60 in. (c) Pryor Fine Art 2015
“Jodoin & Sonmor: Nomads, Players and Saints” opens on September 24 and will be on view through October 24. An opening reception is scheduled for September 24 from 6-8 PM.
To learn more, visit Pryor Fine Art.
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