I met the painter and sculptor Armand Vaillancourt in Quebec in 2004 at a posthumous exhibition of the work of Stanley Lewis, a sculptor whom I had previously photographed. Gradually, I began to follow Armand Vaillancourt in his work, leisure and family life, taking pictures of all aspects of his everyday experience. Internationally renowned, Armand Vaillancourt is a pioneer in artistic affirmation from Quebec. From his early work in the 1950s, he has triumphed in sculpture and painting, his artistic successes often rooted to the liberties he took with accepted conventions. He has created more than 3000 works, often huge creations, both celebrating and playing with the notion of excess. Friendly and sociable, Armand Vaillancourt is an unusually accessible person, far from the idea of the snobbish and removed artist. A fiery and passionate man, he still defends social and political causes, including environmental action and the fight for an independent Quebec, using his work to expose what he sees as a chronically unjust state of affairs. 

© 2014 A text Isabelle Maltais