I am a visual artist working in painting, sculpture and installation. After pursuing a career in the social sciences, I moved to art making as my main occupation, completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada in 2020. I currently live and work in Montreal and New York City.
My art practice explores other ways of being in this world, more attentive to non-human subjectivities and agency. I grew up in a region of Canada nestled between the Saint-Lawrence River and the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. From this experience I kept a sense of wonder toward the all-encompassing beauty of nature, and respect toward its boundless power. I also soon came to experience the contradictions and anxiety characterizing our frayed relationship to our natural environment. In order to get to the core of this tension, my practice seeks to destabilize dominant anthropocentrism, which tends to put the humans above everything else. I thus approach landscapes and objects, real or invented, by trying to blur the distinction between the supposed ontological vacuity of the object/matter and the presumed transcendence of the subject/human.
I'd love to hear from you!
Email: info@manuelpoitras.com
Instagram: manuel_poitras
CV
Education
2016 - 2020 — BFA in Painting, Drawing and Sculpture. Concordia University (Montreal, Canada)
1991- 2003 — BA (Université Laval, Québec, Canada), MA and PhD (York University, Toronto, Canada) in Political Science
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
2025 — [Title forthcoming]. Galería Césped (Mexico City, Mexico)
2023 — DIY Flood. CIRCA Art Actuel (Montreal, Canada)
Group exhibitions
2024 — Rock’oco. Fundraising Exhibition 2023, CIRCA Art Actuel (Montreal, Canada)
2023 — Catalogue CIRCA. Fundraising Exhibition 2023, CIRCA Art Actuel (Montreal, Canada)
2022 — Sled. No. 01. Le Livart (Montreal, Canada)
2022 — Humidex. Fundraising exhibition 2022, CIRCA Art Actuel (Montreal, Canada)
2021 — Questioning Space Accumulation. Alte Handelsschule (Leipzig, Germany). With catalogue
2021 — Warm Gestalt. Pilotenkueche (Leipzig, Germany)
2021 — Groundwater. Popop Gallery (Montreal, Canada)
2021 — Amalgame. CIRCA Art Actuel 2021 Benefit Exhibition
2020 — Art Volt Collection Soft-Launch. Art Volt (Montreal, Canada). Juried
2020 — Intentional Communities. FOFA Gallery (Montreal, Canada). Juried, with catalogue
2019 — Common Uncommon. Peripheral Hours (Montreal, Canada)
2019 — Elements in Permutation. VAV Gallery (Montreal, Canada). Juried
2019 — Art Auction, for the benefit of VAV Gallery (Montreal, Canada)
2018 — Modest Proposals. VAV Gallery (Montreal, Canada). Juried
Curation
2019 — Common Uncommon. Peripheral Hours (Montreal, Canada)
2018 — Out of Balance. Art Matters Festival, at Galerie Espace (Montreal, Canada). With catalogue
Awards
2023 — Research and Creation Grant, Canada Council for the Arts (Montreal, Canada)
2022 — Creation Grant / Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec (Montreal, Canada)
2021 — Research and Creation Grant, Canada Council for the Arts (Montreal, Canada / Leipzig, Germany)
2020 — Guido Molinari Prize in Studio Arts (Montreal, Canada)
Residencies
2025 — Cara de Planta / Artist residency (Mexico City, Mexico)
2024 — Taller Contorno, Artist residency (Mexico City, Mexico)
2024 — La Mano Pottery / Self-directed artist residency (New York, USA)
2021 — Pilotenkueche (Leipzig, Germany)
Reviews / Publications
2021 — Questioning Space Accumulation: uninterrupted dialogues. PK Magazine, Dec. 19, Leipzig, Germany
2021 — Warm Gestalt: warm hearts. PK Magazine, Nov. 10, Leipzig, Germany
2021 — Manuel Poitras: Material Agency. PK Magazine, Nov. 4, Leipzig, Germany
2021 — Groundwater explores the bond between memories, home and natural elements. The Concordian, Sep. 21, Montreal, Canada
2020 — "Intentional Community". FOFA Gallery, Montreal, Canada
Community Involvement
2023 — Action Centre-Ville / Guest artist, sustainable sculpture practices course (Montreal, Canada)
2023-present — RAAV Regroupement des artistes en arts visuels du Québec / Associate member (Montreal, Canada)
2021-present — CIRCA Art Actuel / Member of the Strategic Planning and Fundraising Exhibition Committees (Montreal, Canada)
2021 — Groundwater, exhibition organizing committee member (Popop Gallery, Montreal, Canada)
2019 — Common Uncommon, exhibition organizing committee member (Peripheral Hours, Montreal, Canada)
2018-2019 — Galerie VAV / Member of the Board of Directors (Montreal, Canada)