La Neige De Ses Rires, 2001

Private Collection, Toronto

“Limites Vertigineuse”, Galerie Bernard, Montreal, May 2002

Part of a series of acrylic works entitled “Impressions des cantons de l'est”, “La Neige De Ses Rires” is testament to Barbeau's transformative artistic practice. Without a signature style, Barbeau was in constant flux in his practice, ranging from gestural large scale painting with a paint brush attached to a pole, minimalist and abstract sculpture and hard-edge painting. In this way, the artist was on a constant journey seeking truth in practice, but focused on the transformations and transitions, rather than the definition of absolution. Here, interlocking shapes fill the image frame in bold and flat contrasting colours, seemingly floating in the blue background. There remains an illusionary quality to the work as the black shapes instinctively denote depth or relief for the viewer and thus a third plane, but the image indeed remains flattened in the two dimensional space of the canvas. This artwork includes a copy of a 2005 photo certificate from the artist as well as a photograph of Barbeau with the work of art.