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