Yechel Gagnon: Monograph

Designed by Réjean Myette

Yechel Gagnon’s latest project is a hardcover bilingual book, revealing the various facets of her artistic practice from her large-scale ephemeral drawings, to her public art installations and her carved custom-made plywood. The book is designed by Réjean Myette, a specialist in museum publications.

Three essays written by the American Architect, Mira Locher, the Canadian Curator, Virginia Eichhorn and the Quebecois Writer Jean-Marc Desgent, accompany and present nearly one hundred colour images. A chronology is also included, revealing an intimate look into her studio practice. This object-like book and its exposed smyth-sewn binding echoes the vivid materiality of her work.

The Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada had underlined the beauty and the quality of this custom published book.

This publication is distributed via Kama Pigments, By Artists, For Artists, a specialized artist material store based in Montreal. The book can be purchased online or in store for the price of 79.95$ CAD. Click here to order your copy.

Publisher: Yechel Gagnon
ISBN: 978-2-9819718-0-7
Design: Réjean Myette
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 144
Illustrations: Colour photos
Size: 8” x 10.5”
Essays: English and French

This book was entirely conceived and printed in Canada.

Acknowledgements:
Thank you to the Conseil des arts de Longueuil for their significant contribution to this book.

Biographies:

Yechel Gagnon holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree (Studio Arts) from Concordia University in Montreal and an AOCAD with Honours in Drawing and Painting from the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. She is recipient of numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts de Longueuil and the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec who awarded her the prestigious CALQ Creator of the Year award. Her works are exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries, artist-run centres and museums. Her public artworks and exhibitions have attracted frequent reviews by noted critics and curators. Commissions of public artworks have been awarded to her by cultural institutions, medical centres, colleges and universities. Yechel Gagnon is represented by Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art in Calgary, Carol Rubenstein Associates in Philadelphia and Cynthia-Reeves in New Hampshire. Gagnon’s current project is a 130-foot-long bas-relief mural awarded through the Art and Architecture Integration Policy of Quebec.

Réjean Myette is a graduate of the graphic design program at the Université du Québec à Montréal where he taught for 20 years. In 1998, after eight years as a graphic designer for such renown offices as Grauerholz Design, Graphème and Gottschalk+Ash International, he founded the design studio called Fugazi. His passion for typography combined with his great sense of design guides him in his practice. Working on a variety of fronts, mainly for corporations and museums, his work includes the design of books, exhibition catalogues, packaging, as well as the development of visual identity programs, print and multimedia communications.

Mira (Mimi) Locher is an educator, author, and practising architect. She is the Dean and a Professor at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba and a partner in Kajika Architecture, with projects in the U.S. and Japan. Her research and teaching focus on design practices and processes, community engagement through architectural design, and on Japanese architecture, gardens, and design. She is the author of four books: Super Potato Design, Traditional Japanese Architecture, Zen Gardens, and Zen Garden Design. An avid traveller, Mimi has a keen interest in traditional building crafts and vernacular settlements across the world.

Virginia Eichhorn is an award-winning curator, with over three decades’ experience in the private, public and commercial visual arts environment. She has curated exhibitions across Canada, and in the United States and Europe and is a member of highly regarded professional associations including the Association of Art Museum Curators and International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art. She has contributed the lead essay in 13 catalogues; 4 books; and has contributed over 50 articles in Canadian and International magazines. She has sat on numerous boards including and currently serves as the Vice President of Craft Ontario (formerly Ontario Craft Council).

Jean-Marc Desgent holds a master’s degree in anthropology from the Université de Montréal. He has been on the editorial board of several Québec literary magazines. Desgent’s poems and books have been translated into some fifteen languages. He has also taken part in readings, conferences and symposiums in a dozen or so countries. Academic and critic François Paré has written: “The poetic works of Jean-Marc Desgent are among the most deeply moving and prophetic in Québec poetry today.” Desgent has won a number of the most prestigious Québec and Canadian literary awards, including the Governor General Award.

Founder and Owner, Vincent Deshaies, established Kama Pigments in 1996. Known for their artistic and scientific expertise, Kama offers a line of high-quality art products, making them a leading company in artist materials across Canada. The company’s motto, For Artists, By Artists, distinguishes them for their savvy approach to materials relating to visual and decorative arts, restoration, gilding and wood finishing. They also partake in special projects such as distribution of art books.