• Victoria Dream
  • 30" x 30", oil on canvas
  • Robert Lemay

Artist Information

Robert Lemay

Born: 1961, Calgary, Alberta
Price range: $2100-$7600

“Light is the focus of all my work. I like the simple beauty of everyday objects. They evoke whole worlds and universes when placed upon a table. The flowers and fruits of still life recur over and over through the history of art because they are life affirming objects of contemplation. I’m interested in how we look at a thing, an apple, a swatch of fabric, drapery, or the light on a table, now, as compared to, say, how Cezanne painted an apple, or how Dali painted bread, or how Manet painted lilacs, or how Cotan painted a melon. My paintings seek to intensely look, to delve into an understanding of the nature of seeing, and to record a few of the infinite combinations possible on a table, well lit.” - Lemay

Robert Lemay graduated from the University of Alberta with a BFA in 1984. He began exhibiting in galleries the following year, in 1985. He has had over 20 solo shows in cities across Canada, including Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal. He also shows his work in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Lemay has travelled extensively, studying the art in museums in Europe and the United States.

AWARDS

2007 Alberta Foundation for the Arts Projects Grant

1996 Alberta Foundation for the Arts Projects Grant

1990 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant

1989 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant

 

LECTURES, RESIDENCIES, and HONOURS

2015 Shaw Communications has named a room in Shaw Court, Calgary, Alberta, The Robert Lemay Room

2014 Inaugural Artist in Residence, Graceland University, Iowa, November 2014

2007 Alberta Society of Artists, September 13, 2007

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2016 “Grid,” Wallace Galleries, Calgary

2015 Robert Lemay: 30 Years, Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton

2013 “Flower,” Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton

2011 Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton

2010 “In a Narrow Space,” Shayne Gallery, Montreal

2009 Wallace Galleries, Calgary

2008 “Calm Things,” Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton.

2007 Shayne Gallery, Montreal

2006 Wallace Galleries, Calgary

2005 Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton

2004 Shayne Gallery, Montreal

2003 Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton

2002 Shayne Gallery, Montreal

Wallace Galleries, Calgary

2001 Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton

2000 Wallace Galleries, Calgary

1998 Hollander York Gallery, Toronto

Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver

1997 Wallace Galleries, Calgary

1996 Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton

1995 Hollander York Gallery, Toronto

Wallace Galleries, Calgary

1994 Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver

Wallace Galleries, Calgary

Hollander York Gallery, Toronto

1993 Douglas Udell Gallery, Edmonton

1992 Woltjen/Udell, Edmonton

1991 Wallace Galleries, Calgary

1989 Woltjen/Udell, Edmonton

1988 Woltjen/Udell, Vancouver

1987 Woltjen/Udell, Edmonton

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED)

2011 “For the Love of Art,” Wallace Galleries, Calgary, Alberta

1999 “New Talent Invitational” Denise Bibro Fine Arts, New York City

“Alberta: Six Degrees of Separation,” Prairie Regional Art Gallery

Grand Prairie, AB

1998 “Multiple Realities,” Muttart Public Art Gallery, Calgary

1997 “Still Life,” McMullen Art Gallery, Edmonton

BIBLIOGRAPHY

2010 Canadian Interviews. “The Moment of Astonishment: Interview with Robert Lemay.” canadianinterviews.com.

2010 Ryan, Janice. “Oil Paintings Animate Common Objects,” Edmonton Journal, Friday, June 17, 2011.

2009 Notebook Magazine. V.3, Issue 8. “Shawna & Robert Lemay: Calm Things.”

2008 Bouchard, Gilbert. “Lemay Reinterprets Iconic Art in his Neutral Realist Style,” Edmonton Journal, Friday, April 11, 2008.

2006 Bouchard, Gilbert. “Alberta: What is Visible,” Galleries West Magazine.

2005 Bouchard, Gilbert. “Lemay Breathes New Life into Form”, Edmonton Journal. Oct 7, G8.

2005 Lemay, Shawna. “Precarious”, Artichoke. Summer, 2005, pp. 38-45.

2003 Kellog, Alan. “Catching Up With the Beautiful People”, Edmonton Journal.

2001 Bouchard, Gilbert. “Real Life Frozen in Still-Life Mastery”, Edmonton Journal. May 4, E14

1999 Gustafson, Paula. “Robert Lemay at Douglas Udell Gallery,” Asian Art News, March/April 1999

1998 Image reproduced. Alberta Views, Spring Vol. 1, No.2, pp. 15.

1996 Mandel, Charles. “Still-Life Showing so Conventional it’s Uncongenial”, Edmonton Journal.

January 25, C5.

1993 “Time is Frozen in a Painter’s Still Life Studies”, Edmonton Journal. December.

1992 “Artist Follows Cezanne’s Example”, Edmonton Journal.

1989 Beauchamp, Elizabeth. “Summer Candid Pictures Can Lift Winter Mood”,Edmonton Journal. December 2, D4.

 

COLLECTIONS

 

Alberta Art Foundation

Alberta Energy

Alberta Treasury Branch

Bennet, Jones

Verchere

Canada Council Art Bank

Canadian Embassy: Beijing, China

Canberra, Australia

Chevron Oil

Cliff Lede Wineries, Yountville, California

Edmonton City Hall

Foreign Affairs

Graceland University (Lamoni, Iowa)

Interprovincial Pipeline

Lethbridge Regional Hospital

Norcen Resources

Ocelot Energy

Shaw Communications

Suncor Energy

 

Westin Hotels

Robert Lemay: “GRID” Solo Exhibition e-Catalog 2016

Robert Lemay: “GRID” Solo Exhibition 2016

May 5 - 18, 2016

At first glance, the new work seems a departure from the tabletop still lifes for which Robert Lemay is known. In fact, the work extends and elaborates the artist’s practices and concerns from the beginning of his career.

To view the exhibition e-Catalog, click HERE
Robert Lemay: “Say it with Flowers” Exhibition e-Catalog 2021

Robert Lemay: “Say it with Flowers” Solo Exhibition 2021

May 8 - 26, 2021
Lemay has been focusing on the macroscopic with his recent foray back into floral works. This show will be a perfect opportunity for Mother’s day flowers that will last forever!

“Flowers matter, beauty matters, and flowers help in that they give us pause.” - Lemay

To view the exhibition e-Catalog, click HERE