Raymonde April OC (born 23 June 1953) is a Canadian contemporary artist, photographer and academic. April lives in Montreal where she teaches photography at Concordia University. Her work has been shown regularly in museums and galleries in Canada and Europe. Her photographs have also been featured in various publications and awarded the Prix du Québec.[1]

Raymonde April
Born (1953-06-23) 23 June 1953 (age 71)
Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada
OccupationPhotographer/ chair of studio arts at concordia university/ teacher
Known forContemporary artist and photographer
AwardsOfficer of the Order of Canada, Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas

Life and work

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April was born in Moncton, New Brunswick and raised in Rivière-du-Loup in Eastern Quebec. She studied at several universities, specifically for art. She attended the art college in Rivière-du-Loup and the École des arts visuels of the Université Laval, in Québec.[1]

April is known for her photography and academics.[2] She has been a photographer since the 1970s. She attended and taught photography at Condordia University since 1985. She also helped open La Chambre Blanche, a facility for artists in Québec.[1]

April explores narrative through her photography. Her extensive series depict everyday life, transforming the average experiences into tremendous images. They include typical photographic tropes, like portraits and landscapes.[1] Eduardo Ralickas argues April's work is articulated around a scene between near and far, appearance and disappearance, making distance a key factor in mapping the territory of the symbolic and the imaginary.[3] Her work is in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Canada[4] and in many other collections.[5]

Exhibitions

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In 1991, she had a solo show Raymonde April: embrace everything (presented as part of the Mois de la Photo à Montréal), at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University. She had solo exhibitions as well at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (1986), and the Musée d'art de Joliette (1997).[5] She showed again at the Mois de la Photo à Montréal in 2011, this time her self-portraits.[6] In 2022, Traversée (151 photographs by April), was shown at 1700 La Poste art center, Montreal.[7]

Awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Raymonde April". Canadian Photographic Portfolio Society.
  2. ^ Zebrowski-rubin, Stefan (25 January 2010). "Raymonde April times four, in Montreal". Artblog. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  3. ^ Ralickas, Eduardo (4 February 2010). "he Many Equivalences of Raymonde April". Canadian Art. ISSN 0825-3854.
  4. ^ "Raymonde April". www.gallery.ca. National Gallery of Canada. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Raymonde April c.v." www.centrevox.ca. VOX. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Raymonde April". moisdelaphoto.com. Mois de la photo. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  7. ^ Clement, Eric (8 October 2022). "Between life and art". La Press. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas citation". Prix du Quebec (in French). 17 November 2003.
  9. ^ "Faculty Biography". Department of Studio Arts. Concordia University. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  10. ^ "Ontario Arts Foundation – Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Awards". Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Order of Canada citation". 11 June 2018.
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