Rock
Therrien creates upbeat paintings in which iconic characters take centre
stage in a vintage setting highlighted with touches of luminous
neon.
Drawing inspiration from fragments of his life Rock is
particularly influenced by the movies, music and animation of his childhood
as well as by his travels around the world and the status of popular culture
in different societies. Each work is conceived as a complex message to be
unravelled, and every painting tells a story.
We are
invited to look closely and read the clues – to interpret what we see in our
own way. First, our attention is captured with the accessible and familiar
subject matter and distinctive palette. Then, he attempts to make us smile
with those amusing touches that divert us from everyday life. Finally when we
are drawn in, we start to see deeper into what the artist is telling us in
his highly personal visual language. As one collector pointed out, “First he
makes you smile, then he makes you think."
After
nearly 20 years as a successful artist, Rock has built a formidable following
around the world including Gordon Ramsay, Snoop Dogg, Justin Bieber and Dale
Hunter, as well as high profile corporations and private collectors. He has
participated in many solo and group exhibitions in North America and Canada,
Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong, and in 2013, his work featured in "A Piece
of Canada in Dubai", at the Opera Gallery in
Dubai.
Today, he primarily creates paintings featuring
familiar characters in amusing and wacky situations in which viewers can
often recognize themselves.
For each painting, Therrien
conceives a situation that he sketches on canvas beforehand. He then works
the materials and colours using a painting technique that he developed over
time. Sanding his paintings creates a highly textured surface and reinforces
the idea that his characters live in a bygone
era.
Passionate about his work and motivated by a desire
not only to paint, but to communicate with his audience he says:
"Painting never seemed obvious to me, but when it catches hold of you,
it pushes you to go further and to enter into the heart of both yourself and
others”.
