THE EXHIBITION DENIS JUNEAU : SPACE AND COLOR. SIX DECADES OF CREATION AT SIMON BLAIS GALLERY

One hundred years after the birth of Denis Juneau (1925–2014), the Denis Juneau Trust, in collaboration with Simon Blais Gallery, MU, and several other partners, is launching a year-long series of celebrations honouring one of the most important painters in the history of modern Quebec art. Exhibitions, a public mural, publications, educational and public engagement initiatives, and new institutional partnerships will invite audiences to rediscover the work of an artist who, more than a decade after his passing, continues to exert a remarkable influence on Canadian abstract art. A leading figure of the new artistic wave that emerged in the 1950s, Juneau established himself through a rigorous geometric abstraction driven by a sustained and masterful exploration of colour. Despite significant physical disabilities, including profound deafness, he built an extraordinarily prolific career, producing an impressive body of work that includes paintings, sculptures, murals, drawings, and the logo of the Université de Montréal. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries across Canada, as well as in New York, Washington, Paris, London, and Brussels. THE EXHIBITION SPACE AND COLOUR: SIX DECADES OF CREATION AT SIMON BLAIS GALLERY The centennial celebrations will officially begin on September 9, 2026, with the opening of Space and Colour at Simon Blais Gallery. On view through October 24, 2026, the exhibition showcases the richness of Denis Juneau’s artistic legacy through approximately thirty paintings and sculptures selected from the nearly one thousand works preserved by the Denis Juneau Trust. Spanning six decades of artistic production (1949–2010), the exhibition offers a compelling overview of an extraordinary creative journey. From his earliest experiments in the late 1940s to the freer, more spontaneous works produced around the turn of the 21st century, visitors will discover an artist who continually reinvented his visual language. Oils, acrylics, drawings, and works on paper reveal an unwavering exploration of colour, space, movement, and perception. To mark the occasion, a major illustrated catalogue will be published, bringing together the works featured in this exhibition as well as those presented in the spring exhibition. The publication will document this pivotal chapter in the centennial celebrations. “This retrospective highlights Denis Juneau’s remarkable versatility, artistic talent, insatiable curiosity, and sustained exploration of colour and material. Through thirty carefully selected works, it offers a concise yet comprehensive overview of a career spanning more than sixty years. It is our way of paying tribute to a great artist with whom we had the pleasure of working for nearly a decade during his lifetime, and whose work we have proudly championed since his passing,” says Martin Blais, Associate Director of Simon Blais Gallery and curator of the exhibition. Works by Denis Juneau are held in more than twenty museum and institutional collections across Canada. Throughout his career—and well beyond—his work has been featured in 46 solo exhibitions and 124 group exhibitions, confirming his enduring place as one of the leading figures in Canada’s artistic and cultural heritage. INFORMATION : https://www.galeriesimonblais.com/en/expos/space_and_color