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A Peek Inside Louis Garneau's Creative Universe

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The former Olympian cyclist and famed Canadian businessman is also an accomplished artist who pushes the boundaries of contemporary art and design innovation.

His latest collection Résilience is a brilliant homage to Major Taylor, America’s first Black world bicycle champion.

I'AM LOUIS GARNEAU

I’m an Olympian, an internationally renowned businessman and a painter !

I’m entering the final chapter of my life and have decided to become an artist of international stature. I’ve been painting ever since I was young, and I’m a graduate of Université Laval in visual arts.

I’m a contemporary artist who uses digital images, usually from my cell phone.

My technique consists of printing series of images which I then color using mixed media.

I draw on many influences from art history, particularly Impressionism, Expressionism and contemporary art. I have been led to develop this technique over time because of the hectic pace of my life.

I can’t imagine painting just one picture. I want to express myself through a series of paintings in order to discover the limits of my creativity. As in sport, each painting is altered by series, repetition, energy, and fatigue, creating strong and more fragile images.

I often paint famous or unknown human beings, living or gone. I paint them in series to give them new lives, glory, or emotions. I dress them, I color them. I integrate them into exhilarating or sad environments. I paint human beings with their dreams and demons.

I paint the emotion that surrounds human beings, whether they are Black, White or any other color. I paint as a tribute to my human brothers and sisters. Colorization, gesture, and movement become life scenarios in my art.

A few paintings from the Résilience collection displayed at the Worcester Center for Craft in June 2024.
A few paintings from the Résilience collection displayed at the Worcester Center for Craft in June 2024.

I’m currently back at university, studying art history to continue enriching my work.

What a pleasure it is to rub shoulders with inspiring and inspired young creators!

I’ve also decided to set up a foundation called LG ART FACTORY to help athletes and artists through the sale of my productions.


MY INSPIRATION

A MATCHLESS CHAMPION

Louis Garneau standing in front of artworks from the Résilience collection at the WCC June 2024
Louis Garneau standing in front of artworks from the Résilience collection at the WCC June 2024

I’ve decided to paint Major Taylor, a Black cyclist who won the World Professional Track Speed Championship in Montreal in 1899.

Marshall Walter Taylor, known as Major Taylor, was born into a humble Indianapolis family in 1878. At the age of 12, he was lucky enough to receive his first bicycle, an item which was usually only owned by the better off. He was strong and fast, and soon showed an outstanding talent for cycling, winning every race he entered.

A former national champion soon took notice and became his promoter.


Major Taylor was only the second Black athlete to win a world championship in any sport, paving the way for other Black sporting heroes. However, he was a victim of the pervasive discrimination in his country: he was forbidden to race in Southern cities and regularly received verbal and physical threats. When some of the public started to dislike him because of his victories over White cyclists, Taylor, ever resilient, kept his cool and continued training, convinced that goodness would always prevail over hatred. As he kept winning, he became “the fastest man on earth” and attracted thousands of fans to indoor sports arenas called velodromes. Abroad, he was invited across the world, competing against the best European and Australian riders.

Louis Garneau in his warehouse during a press conference to present his new work to Canadian medias .                               Photo credit : Jocelyn Riendeau/Le Soleil
Louis Garneau in his warehouse during a press conference to present his new work to Canadian medias . Photo credit : Jocelyn Riendeau/Le Soleil

By 1898, he held seven world records, finishing first in 29 of the 49 races he took part in. This record has yet to be matched. At the age of 32, he put an end to an exhausting career, then lost his fortune through bad investments. He died destitute at 53.

Today, I paint Major Taylor to pay tribute to him and give him many more lives.

My artwork is the fruit of my imagination, creativity, emotions, and life experiences.

I let my brain loose!


MY GOAL

$1 MILLION

Louis Garneau wins the Longsjo classic 1983 in Fitchburg .                                                                                                Photo Courtesy of Telegram & Gazette
Louis Garneau wins the Longsjo classic 1983 in Fitchburg . Photo Courtesy of Telegram & Gazette

When I started competing at the age of 12, the first thing I was taught was to perform, win and never give up. Challenges and performance have been my driving force ever since I was a child, and this is reflected in my work as an artist.

I have decided to create 100 paintings to honor Major Taylor, the first Black cyclist to be crowned world champion. These 100 paintings will be sold for $10,000 each, raising

$1 million in support of The Whirlwind, the documentary film about Major Taylor’s life.

I won’t be receiving any income from the sale of these paintings.

Life has been generous with me and this is my way of paying tribute to him.

Producers of Whirlwinds and Louis Garneau at the production's headquarter in Worcester MA
Producers of Whirlwinds and Louis Garneau at the production's headquarter in Worcester MA

I’ve also decided to set up a foundation called LG ART FACTORY to help athletes and artists through the sale of my productions.

Everything I do, I do with passion, and I never know how the adventure will end... That’s where the fun lies!

WATCH THE MAKING OF RÉSILIENCE IN LOUIS GARNEAU'S ART FACTORY


 





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