Pierre Dorion’s paintings occupy a wondrous space between the flatness of formal abstraction and a seductive spatial depth often tangible of photorealism. His second solo exhibition with the gallery presents a suite of new works that emphasize even further his preoccupation with the depiction of light. Dorion’s minimalist compositions of interior architectural details act as a stage for luminous reflections, radiant streaks and gentle glows. The prominence of light featured in Dorion’s paintings also sustains the works’ relationship to their photographic source imagery.
Occupying Dorion’s works is an affective sense of absence, creating an intriguing dissonance with the depicted light’s warmth and seduction. Yet it is Dorion’s treatment of light and how it is ultimately perceived that remains the artist’s focus. The largest work, Sans titre (DB), simultaneously depicts numerous points of view of a close-up of an object (in this case, a vase by Daniel Buren) lit by natural light on one side, and artificial light on the other.
Montréal-based Pierre Dorion has exhibited widely throughout Canada and Europe, with notable solo exhibitions at: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Dalhousie Art Gallery in Halifax, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre at the University of Guelph, Art Gallery of York University, Centre international d’art contemporain de Montréal, and Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in 2012, which was accompanied by a full-colour 181-page catalogue. Dorion’s work is featured in many significant institutional, corporate and private collections, including National Gallery of Canada, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Musée des beaux arts de Montréal, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Prêt d’oeuvres d’art du Musée du Québec, City of Montréal, Toronto Dominion Bank, Royal Bank of Canada and Caisse de Dépôt et placement du Québec.
  
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