Multidisciplinary artist Richard Purdy holds a BFA in visual arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax (1975), an MFA from Villa Schifanoia in Florence, Italy (1977), and a PhD in the study and practice of art from the Université du Québec à Montréal (2000). He taught until recently at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, and in 1991, founded the collective Les Industries perdues with François Hébert. His immense installations, which have been presented throughout the world, feature inverted geographical maps, imitation stupa and papyrus as well as fake Old Master paintings as recurring motifs that serve to outline mythical archaeological sites, create imaginary civilizations and turn History on its head. In 2010, Purdy took up the tremendous challenge of creating four interrelated installations, entitled L’écho-l’eau, for Espace Shawinigan in the Mauricie region. As a writer – the author of some twenty publications – he accompanied this project with an impressive catalogue called ecH2O L’écho-l’eau (published by Éditions d’art Le Sabord), in which he describes his overall work.
SEE:
« Modèles réduits et autres objets : Purdy le faussaire » by Pascale Beaudet, ESPACE, vol. 7, # 2, p. 46.
« L’installation : Cette inquiétante étrangère » by Manon Regimbald, ESPACE #17, p. 6.
« Les Industries Perdues » by Richard Purdy, ESPACE #33, p. 13.
« Richard Purzy, François Hébert : Tango de Montréal » by Robert Myrand, ESPACE #53, p. 12.
« Oeuvre de référence… la mesure du vrai et du faux : Les stûpas de Richard Purdy » by Marie-Christiane Mathieu, ESPACE #60, p. 46.
« Public Art as Value Engineering » by Richard Purdy, ESPACE #66, p. 19.
« 1989, Richard Purdy, Progeria Longeevus » by John K. Grande, ESPACE #81, p. 13.
« I comme… de Richard Purdy. Un nuage à l’odeur de terre » by Laurent Segelstein, ESPACE #90, p. 40.
« Chemin faisant » by Gilles Daigneault, ESPACE #93, p. 24.
« At the Four Corners of a Round Earth : Terra tegit terram (Earth Covers Earth) » by Richard Purdy, ESPACE #21, p. 15.
« Public Spaces: Preliminary Notes on Public Art », ESPACE #59, p. 33.
« Accepter de se “mouiller”, voir la chose et son contraire. Richard Purdy à Shawinigan » by Nycole Paquin, ESPACE #94, p. 30.