Statement
I have always questioned boundaries and habits to open new possibilities. After 20 years working as part of a duo, I am refocusing to create in a more intimate way. An interdisciplinary practice that draws on all my experiences as a creator.
Guided by curiosity, my research is intuitive. Depending on the project, I work as much in the pictorial register as the conceptual. Always with great consideration for the viewer.
Consumerism and progress form a great wave that moves ever faster. And, like a wave, the phenomenon leaves a proportional void behind it. I am interested in these blind spots, the interstices and imperfections.
Digital culture generates invisible yet significant impacts in the real world. I am fascinated by our collective addiction to novelty and by all the forms of obsolescence that result from it. As our desires reach industrial proportions and our planet has reached its limits, the phenomenon spills beyond the technological realm to touch ideas, art and even humans. A tension that leads me to reflect on innovation. The two concepts are not opposed but rather two perspectives on the same reality.
I seek to free myself from the imperative to constantly produce novelty. Among other things, I am building a corpus of pictorial works in perpetual evolution that reinvents itself with each presentation. A modest approach that allows me to reduce waste and resist the pressure weighing on the art world
Bio
Simon Rivest is an interdisciplinary artist with an atypical path. He was first trained as a graphic designer. Very early in his career, a job in advertising profoundly imprinted his creativity. Beside getting a strong experience in electronic and print production, he sticks to the philosophy that there are no frontiers for ideas. Since 2001, he has been part of artistic duo Doyon-Rivest. Their art has been presented in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Canada and abroad. They created multiple public art projects, both permanent and temporary
In 2021, he engaged on a solo career path, enriching his career with painting and digital art. With his life partner Catherine Lepage, Simon founded Ping Pong Ping. The creative studio devotes his unique approach to collaborations within the cultural sector. He lives and works in Montreal.