• Night Visions, a new exhibition featuring the works of Montreal-based artist Mathieu Larone, is now open to the public at the Latcham Art Centre.
  • Larone is a professional illustrator whose work has been commissioned by The New Yorker, New York Times, Penguin Books, and more. He graduated from OCADu in 2020.
  • A total of 148 artworks are on display, consisting primarily of pencil crayon drawings accompanied by animations and music videos created by Larone and his creative partner Henry McClellan.
  • A central viewing room offers visitors an intimate audio-visual experience combining music and illustrated animations.
  • The exhibition will be on display until March 16, 2024, in the Latcham Art Centre gallery at 2 Park Drive.

 

Larone’s style is unique and often abstract, occasionally bordering on the surreal. In the artist’s own words, his works are fantasy masquerading as realness: “There’s the idea that you’re invited to question what’s happening in front of you, but it’s really to your benefit to never figure it out, because if you don’t, it will stay amazing.”

“His drawings recall cartoon backgrounds, like those from classic Looney Tunes scenes, but include colours and symbols that invite viewers to question familiar spaces made strange,” Latcham Curator Tyler Durbano explains in an essay within the Night Visions brochure.

Durbano curated the illustrations into a variety of webs, which tend to focus on a particular aesthetic seen throughout the gathering. In his Night Visions commentary, he touches on how Larone’s work subtly transitions between commercial illustration and personal pieces, spanning years of creative endeavours.

“His work offers unique narrative ambiguity, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in the evocative worlds he presents,” Durbano details. “In this, his recurring motifs allow his work to exist for commercial use, where specificity reigns, and in the realm of fine art, where interpretation and personal connection thrive.”

More information on the artist and his work, as well as Durbano’s essay, can be found in the brochure referenced above and available online here. For a preview of Larone’s work, be sure to visit his website.