Exhibition text Geneviève Castrée

Geneviève Castrée (CA)
Wo r l d o f w o n d e r s
Comics, illustrations, music – the Canadian autodidact Geneviève
Castrée isn’t easily categorised. Geneviève Castrée was 15 when she first
began drawing comics. Instead of visiting an art school she adapted the
comic-language as an autodidact, developing her own personal style a
long way off from the traditional comic school way of doing things. For
that reason it is no surprise, but still noteworthy, that most of her books
aren’t released with comic publishing houses but rather with the renowned Canadian poetry publishers «L’Oie de Cravan» or with the legendary
independent record label «K Records».
A number of Castrée’s stories are personal and swing back and forth
between humour and depression, others tackle social or political themes.
In Die Fabrik for example, subjugated machine-creatures break out of the
monotonous factory life to enjoy freedom outdoors in the rainforest.
Castrée brings this parable to life with powerful clarity and bewitchedpoesy only in pictures, without words.
Tout seul dans la forêt en plein jour, avez-vous peur? (Are you scared
being alone in the forest during the day?) seems more like a collection of
black & white drawings with subtle grey shadings. The forest is the
setting for a parade of war-invalids: there’s a man that trod on a landmine plus injured soldiers all over the place, stumbling aimlessly through
the tree-labyrinth.
Tout seul dans la forêt en plein jour, avez-vous peur? was released either
as a book with a record or a record with a book. Together with the band
Woelv, (comprising of her husband Phil Elvrum and herself) they transform her pictures and stories into melancholic, dark-psychedelic folk
songs that come together to form the soundtrack to the book. She did the
same with Pamplemoussi, the extremely abstract story of a young lady’s
horrible childhood memories. According to Castrée, in both cases the
songs complete the stories. «The music and the book both tell a part of
the story. One can actually be content with either the book or the music,
but I would prefer that people sit down and read the book whilst listening to the music, at least one time.»
That’s why Geneviève Castrée will also complement her Fumetto
exhibition with a performance.
Biography
Geneviève Castrée was born in 1981 as
Geneviève Gosselin in Québec City
(Canada). She has been drawing comics
since 1996 and also making music
for a few years too – often with her
husband Phil Elvrum and the band
Woelv. Through magazine articles and
exhibitions her work has been seen in
numerous countries including – Canada,
the USA, Japan, France, Australia, England, Slovenia and Scandinavia. Today
she lives in Anacortes, a small fishing
village in North-Western America.
Bibliography (Selection)
Lait Frappé (L‘Oie de Cravan, 2000)
Die Fabrik (Reprodukt, 2000)
Roulathèque Roulathèque Nicolore (L‘Oie de
Cravan, 2001)
Pamplemoussi (with LP, L‘Oie de Cravan,
2004)
Tout Seul dans la Forêt en Plein Jour (with LP,
K Records, 2007)
Event at the festival
Performance Sat. 28th March, 22.00H,
Galerie Pia-Anna Borner
Link
www.opaon.ca
Text
Christian Gasser
Translation
Ian Black
Thanks
Galerie Pia-Anna Borner