XYLON-Quebec, Woodcut Sensation -- Woodblock Printmaking Re-invented

In 1976, a group of Québec artist-printmakers, Mario Pouliot, Francine Beauvais, Louis Brien and Vincent Théberge, discovered the existence of Xylon International on the occasion of XYLON 7, detecting in such a triennial an exceptional opportunity to make known works of art generated through printmaking. After due consideration, this first contact activated their taste and need, in 1979, to join this society, the statutes and rules of which favour the establishment of national sections as its infrastructure.

In 1982, with the intention of making Québec printmakers known and to thus pull them out of their isolation, due to the geographic conditions of the province, Bill Vincent, Francine Simonin, Mario Pouliot, Vincent Théberge and Francine Beauvais legally established Xylon Québec (Canada), called Xylon Québec for the purpose of this text, the national Québec section of Xylon International which officially recognized it in 1985. Xylon Québec, a non-profit-organization which gave Québec printmakers access to information distributed by their parent establishment and to triennials, was created, allowing them to periodically compare their art works with those of foreign counterparts. Consequently, local printmakers were able to broaden their artistic links beyond local frontiers which occasionally resulted in sponsorship of their activities.

Currently, in 2002, the group has twenty eight (28) active members, printmaking on the Québec territory, some of whom are of European, American or South American origin. Though they all share Xylon International's triple purpose, their development also reveals specific objectives.

… and specific objectives

As a non-profit organization, Xylon Québec aspires to :
1) stimulate production and research in woodcut and relief printing;
2) promote printmaking by grouping printers and favouring contacts between Québec and foreign artists, in view of exchanging ideas, solving problems and identifying resources;
3) publicize the works of Québec printers at home and abroad, by organizing annual national exhibitions, exchanges with other sections and participation to international shows;
4) favoriser et supporter les expositions individuelles et collectives de ses membres;
5) favour and support group and solo exhibitions of its members; 5) facilitate experimentation and information exchanges, by publishing art books, integrating poetry or texts of authors into prints, and catalogs. In brief, Xylon Québec simultaneously plays the role of art producer, publisher and distributor.

of a naughty REBEL … with a cause !

In some ways, Xylon Québec is a rebel, refusing to impose any normalizing rule, thematically speaking. This organization reflects the diverse artistic trends and movements in Québec, and the plurality of relief printmaking techniques. Thus, it harbors multiplicity, none of its components prevailing preferably. Taken individually, the production of each printmaker can be more or less associated with: abstract or figurative art; academic or self-taught development; rural or urban rooting; nature or culture tendencies; Asian, Mexican, European, American and South American characteristics or, still, simply basic human preoccupations, revealing emotions inscribed in time and space or putting forward new interpretations of these two concepts, sometimes going beyond visibility. In this sense, Xylon Québec is not only a rebel, but an hybrid offspring, produced by mixed breeding.

The multiple styles and tendencies of its members are canalized into producing art books, three up to date. Art book printing results from teamwork and channels this wealth of ideas into a singular and unique poetic theme, always impregnated with nordicity and americanicity, since the poets inspiring the artists are chosen because they speak of Québec: its aspirations and disappointments, surging among winds and vast expanses (Témiscamingue); through water and snow; near lakes and fishes; in forests, named (Pointe bleue) or unnamed, with their flora (pine, spruce, birch, larch, maple, cedar, poplar and oak) and fauna (blue tit, goldfinch, stag, moose, marmot); all wrapped up in the four seasons' (summer, spring, autumn, winter) differently coloured cloaks and mild or rugged climates. In view of their books, it becomes evident that Xylon artists illustrate and integrate verses, borrowed from poems, into their art works. However, they do not only cut and engrave wood, but they also poetically speak of wood and create imaginary scenes around it. Nicole Malenfant confirms this uniqueness of Québec printmaking: The meeting of the poet, printmaker, typographer and bookbinder has known such a favourable destiny in Québec that it has never ceased to fascinate each generation of artists (L'estampe originale au Québec 1980-1990, Bibliothèque nationale du Québec and Conseil québécois de l'estampe, Montréal, 1991, p. 21). Thus, Xylon's art books open to images bearing the stamp of French culture. Noteworthy author and art critic, Jean Dumont, adds the following. In this case, printmaking is no more secondary. It does not exist in order to "illustrate" the text: it is simply another text, another way of saying something else which, undoubtedly, could not be said differently. (XYLON DEUX)