After a year of studies in architecture, Christopher Varady-Szabo completed a BFA and an MA (2013). His training included a stone sculpture internship at Montreal’s Atelier Sculpt (1987-1988) and courses in casting at both the Ottawa School of Art (1998) and the Conseil de la Culture de la Gaspésie. Between 2000 and 2008, he was an artist in residence in Quebec, Ontario and France, and actively involved with the Vaste et Vague (Carleton-sur-Mer) and AXENÉO7 (Gatineau) artists’ centres. In addition to a characteristic affinity with their surroundings, Varady-Szabo’s outdoor installations display a marked historical influence. Moïse (“Moses”), for example, consisted of a cradle fashioned from twigs and placed in the shallow waters near the riverbank in Carleton-sur-Mer (1997). As seen in Time tunnel (Carleton-sur-Mer, 2003), the artist’s indoor works are equally inspired by the past: reminiscent of the prehistoric cliff dwellings of troglodytes, this imposing hollow structure was composed of soil, branches, straw and wood, bridging eras and spaces through both its title and its form.
SEE:
« L’appel du perpendiculaire : Christopher VaradySzabo » by Françoise Charron, ESPACE #44, p. 38.
« Sculpture for Everyone » by Serge Fisette, ESPACE #67, p. 5.
« Les Islomanes » by Nathalie Côté, ESPACE #70, p. 20.
« Espaces privés / Espaces différenciés » by Nycole Paquin, ESPACE #26, p. 24.
« Symposium d’art/nature : Entretien de Serge Fisette avec André Lapointe » by Serge Fisette, ESPACE #103-104, p. 48.
