GillesArt.net

The Art of Gilles Arseneault

Artist; Head Injury Survivor; Labour, Environmental & Community Activist; ex-Carpenter;

Friendly Troublemaker

Big Exhibition: Gilles’ work is on view at the Yorkville Public Library 22 Yorkville Ave., just steps from Bloor-Yonge Station August 2 to August 31, 2016
Meet the Artist: Reception Wednesday August 24 5:15pm to 8pm Be there or Be Square

below: Gilles' bio

Examples of Gilles' Art

Favourite Links

Contact

Gilles Arseneault hails from Acadia, born near Dalhousie New Brunswick in May 1955. After spending 3 years at U. of Moncton, he came to Toronto in the 80s to work as a carpenter. An enthusiastic labour and environmental activist, Gilles was an early advocate of green reconstruction as a major source of employment and real prosperity. He founded the first Environment Committee in the Canadian building trades—at Carpenters local 27 in 1991. With two friends, he founded Green City Construction and was lead carpenter on the CMHC Healthy House, 1995-96. At Green City, Gilles was particularly concerned with waste management, and was an advocate of deconstruction & reuse, rather than demolition. He served on the Waste Caucus of the Ontario Environment Network. Gilles was also a member of the Coalition for a Green Economy for over ten years, from the mid-90s

until the Coalition's dissolution in 2008.

Gilles’ artistic activities began as a student, but throughout the nineties he began to commit ever more time to his creative side. His works included some amazing sculptures, made from construction site waste—shaped, glued, screwed and brightly painted. His artistic and activist concerns merged in his work with the Mayworks festival of labour arts, for which he served as a board member in 1995-96. In 1997, a near-fatal fall resulted in a serious brain injury and a coma of several months duration. Gilles has made a partial recovery and has renewed his focus on painting, using his one good hand—his right one (he used to be left-handed). Gilles continues to live in Toronto with support from Bellwood’s Centre for Community Living, Community Head Injury Resource Services, Creative Spirit Art Centre, family and friends. In the last few years Gilles has been confined to his wheelchair; however he continues to combine his artistic statements with his environmental concerns.

1999 - Exhibited at Mayworks Festival 2000 - Honorable Mention Award Broken Fence Society juried environmental art competition. 2005 - Exhibited at the Distillery District. 2006 - Exhibited in Nathan Phillips Square during Brain Injury Awareness Month. - Painting featured in the Brain Injury Association of Ontario calendar. 2008 - Exhibited at Yorkville Public Library. Exhibited in Toronto Outdoor Art Show 2009 - Exhibited at International Day of the Disabled 2010 - Exhibited in Toronto Outdoor Art Show 2012 – Exhibited at Queen West Art Crawl 2013 – Special Exhibition at Flying Pony Gallery & Cafe, Toronto

Gilles at Flying Pony Exhibition

The following pictures are a few samples of Gilles’ work, old and new, including a couple of his pre-accident sculptures.

One from his Creative Spirit Gallery works
Contemporary Works (2008)
Two pre-accident paintings
Pre-accident Painting & Sculptures
Contemporary works (2012-13)
satisfied customer Prof. Gene Desfor at home
Contemporary works (2007)
Two More Pre-accident Paintings
Head Injury Assn. Calendar

A Few Favourite Links Mayworks festival of working people and the arts Creative Spirit Art Centre Bellwoods Centre for Community Living Community Head Injury Resource Services (CHIRS) Tangled Art + Disability Art Gallery of Ontario Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) Martin Liefhebber Architects Manufactured Landscapes Sonja Persram’s Sustainable Alternatives Green Homebuilding John Todd Ecological Design Grassroots Recycling Network WindShare / Toronto Renewable Energy Cooperative Community Bicycle Network Green$aver Building Materials Reuse Assn.	Gilles’ former construction company now operated by Peter Shepherd, (416) 535-6707
Gilles in 1992	Will McGarvey Art Michael Moore Labour Council of Toronto Carpenters Union Worldwatch Institute Rev. Billy & the Church of Stop Shopping Seppo Leinonen’s amazing EnvironMental Cartoon Gallery Blade Zone Other Vital Video Information: Trailer Park Boys: Ricky on littering McKenzie Brothers on twist-off beer caps A. Whitney Brown: “I Support Our Troops!” Van Jones: America is not broke! George Carlin on the American Dream Coffee and Cigarettes
Special thanks go to Joanne Schwartz (of Toronto Public Library), Pete Broadley (of CHIRS), Debbie Wright (of Bellwoods), and Jacques Arseneault in helping Gilles get his work to the public. Also to Ellen at the Creative Spirit Art Centre for providing invaluable resources—spatial, material and instructional—for Gilles at the Centre. For general information on Gilles’ work, contact Pete Broadley (of CHIRS), Joanne Schwartz at (416) 656-5449 and Brian Milani at (416) 968-1282 For art purchases, contact Jacques Arseneault at (416) 539-9039
webpage courtesy of Brian Milani at www.GreenEconomics.net