A 2nd mother-daughter opening for Mireille Tessier Bourbeau and Pascale Bourbeau

Pascale Bourbeau and her mother, the figurative painter Mireille Tessier Bourbeau, inaugurated their second joint exhibition, Monday evening, at Galerie 203 in the Old Port of Montreal.

Inspired by the large gardens of the family farm, located in the Eastern Townships, the two artists were surrounded by around thirty of their respective works as well as their loved ones.

“Flowers reach us a lot. [Ma mère] also has a lot of flowers and floral themes in his works. We thought it would be a good idea to do an exhibition together. And it’s also great to do it as a duo. We are not in competition because we do not do the same thing; she paints and I take photos. I think we complement each other well,” explained Pascale Bourbeau, whose works recall the flowers of fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon.

For her, who finds most of her subjects from her mother, “all flowers are beautiful”. She has a preference for roses, hibiscus, sunflowers and lilies, but also wildflowers and maple leaves.

“The sunflower is a very robust flower which turns towards the sun, it has a beautiful meaning, the rose too. Everyone loves roses, it’s romantic. […] But it was once that I discovered them in the water too. Like the lily, I love this photo so much (A jellyfish) that it’s as if I learned to love this flower more through photography,” added the multidisciplinary artist.

Like a fish in water

Pascale Bourbeau uses water as a photo studio. “The flower is light in water. It floats. And there is also something with the light which reflects on the petals and that is what I try to capture, this light which is projected on the flower”, described the artist who practices this type of photography for about ten years now.

“I started taking photos of flowers in water, in the summer when the weather is nice. I took flowers from [le jardin de ma mère] and I photographed them. By doing it, I developed a certain expertise […] and it really became a passion to find myself in the pool with my pince-nez, my glasses and my wetsuite when the water gets too cold,” explained the artist with a laugh, emphasizing all the admiration she had for her mother.

The two women presented a first joint exhibition, in the same places, in 2019.

Continuing in the same vein, this year’s exhibition, which will be open to the public starting Wednesday, will feature new pieces. Mireille Tessier Boubeau, who opted for a more fluid palette, was inspired by her daughter’s floral photos to create new paintings.

Part of the proceeds from the sale of the paintings and photos will be donated to the Les Petits Rois foundation, which promotes the education and development of children living with an intellectual disability with or without disorders linked to the autism spectrum.

The exhibition Duo will be presented at Galerie 203 in Old Montreal until June 17.