Articles

Selected excerpts from publications.

“Blossoming Talent”

“If the sky’s the limit, then we’d ask for an eternal summer. But the next best thing is a rich and vibrant floral still life piece by Edmonton artist, Robert Lemay…”
– Edify Magazine, December 2022

“Carpe Flores,” by Joe Gurba, in the October 2020 issue of Modern Luxuria.

“The Inspiration of Flowers,” by Richard Nahem in the December 2020 issue of Arabella — a Canadian Art, Architecture, and Design Magazine.

THE CREATIVE UNCONSCIOUS– excerpt from an interview in the online magazine, The Creative Unconscious, June 10, 2018.Are you working on any personal projects right now? If so, can you share a little bit about your inspiration and your creative proces… — THE CREATIVE UNCONSCIOUS
– excerpt from an interview in the online magazine, The Creative Unconscious, June 10, 2018.
Are you working on any personal projects right now? If so, can you share a little bit about your inspiration and your creative process?
I was looking at a photo of a beautiful home interior and the realist painting on the wall, when I realized the “painting” was a big screen TV with a frozen picture. This gave me the idea to paint film stills as though they were classical paintings. I use a grid to paint my work and this slightly digitized effect adds to the concept. I’m trying to reclaim the wall for painting.

WHERE, EDMONTON“Known for his still life portraits and use of grids, Lemay scales up the scenes square by square, which both captures the meticulous process and creates a digitized effect. In this way, pop culture and modern technologies are transfo… — WHERE, EDMONTON
“Known for his still life portraits and use of grids, Lemay scales up the scenes square by square, which both captures the meticulous process and creates a digitized effect. In this way, pop culture and modern technologies are transformed into art and better able to compete for space upon the wall.”
– Tamara Aschenbrenner

AVENUE, EDMONTON- excerpt from Artist Q & A, January 2018 issue and online December 29, 2017.Q: What is your dream project?A: Right now I'm working at the scale I want, in the way I want, so I feel very lucky. I suppose my dream project would be… — AVENUE, EDMONTON
- excerpt from Artist Q & A, January 2018 issue and online December 29, 2017.
Q: What is your dream project?
A: Right now I'm working at the scale I want, in the way I want, so I feel very lucky. I suppose my dream project would be to do a photo shoot with some really famous fashion person and do paintings based on that.
Q: How do you overcome creative roadblocks?
A: You look for new inspiration and try to remember that it’s supposed to be fun so if it’s getting really boring and you feel like you’re repeating yourself then really think about why that is, have some self reflection and then try and add some new things to the mix. Turn your frustration into some sort of creative change.

WHERE, CALGARY– excerpt from “Grid” by Breanna Mroczek in Where, Calgary, May/June 2016 issue.“Robert Lemay regularly created still life paintings, but that all changed when he painted a book that had a photo of Leonard Cohen on the cover. “I though… — WHERE, CALGARY
– excerpt from “Grid” by Breanna Mroczek in Where, Calgary, May/June 2016 issue.
“Robert Lemay regularly created still life paintings, but that all changed when he painted a book that had a photo of Leonard Cohen on the cover. “I thought it would be interesting to paint another face, so I found an old magazine with Gwyneth Paltrow on the cover,” says Lemay. “I painted it and that’s how the series “Grid” started. It introduced me to a new world of fashion and celebrity culture, which is a dominant topic today, with many models and actors having tens of millions of social media followers. These are the people John Singer Sargent would have been painting 100 years ago, or who Any Warhol would be silkscreening.”
“I’m drawn to covers by the expression of the face, and poses and lighting which are suggestive of renaissance or baroque portraits.”

FASHION– excerpt from Fashion, May 2016“Edmonton based artist Robert Lemay is preserving the art of the cover girl through a striking series of oil paintings(think Tilda Swinton, Paulina Porizkova and Kate Moss). His new show at Wallace Galleries in… — FASHION
– excerpt from Fashion, May 2016
“Edmonton based artist Robert Lemay is preserving the art of the cover girl through a striking series of oil paintings(think Tilda Swinton, Paulina Porizkova and Kate Moss). His new show at Wallace Galleries in Calgary hints at an increasingly digital world with its pixel-style grids. Lemay reveals why it’s important to slow down.”
What’s your fascination with fashion magazine covers?
Models, along with the photography in this somewhat ephemeral object – the fashion magazine – transformed into still life object is what interests me. Still life traditionally has themes of transience, so what happens when you consider the fashion magazine in these terms?

AVANT: TRENDS IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES, POLAND– excerpt from Avant, 2, 2014It seems that you know all about the properties and secrets of colour and light. Are there any aspects of your work that you see as particularly intriguing or, perhaps, c… — AVANT: TRENDS IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES, POLAND
– excerpt from Avant, 2, 2014
It seems that you know all about the properties and secrets of colour and light. Are there any aspects of your work that you see as particularly intriguing or, perhaps, challenging?
Art since the Renaissance has used the idea of the canvas as a two-dimensional surface containing the illusion of the third dimension. The secret of the illusion is the tonal variation which suggests objects and space within the illusory world behind the picture plane. The challenge is to understand that each new generation reinvents the relationships and forms used – the sign system of painting. The influences, both conscious and unconscious, of the time one finds oneself in is the intriguing part of being an artist.
(read the article online)