Artist Talk - Diane Landry

NIC's Artist Talk series is pleased to welcome acclaimed artist Diane Landry — the first of three speakers to be featured for the Fall 2023 edition of the lectures.

Facilitated and hosted by the NIC Fine Art Department, the Artist Talk series invites Canadian contemporary artists to come and speak about their creative art practice.

Each lecture lasts one hour, features an image presentation of the artist's work and is followed by an open question-and-answer period. It is an opportunity to meet professional artists and hear them speak first-hand about how and why they create their artwork.

The dialogue of professional art practice integrates visual communication, cultural theory, art-based research, community engagement, and technical skill development in art production, as well as grant, exhibition and mentorship opportunities.

Artist bio

Diane Landry lives and works in Quebec City. She first studied natural science technology and worked in an agricultural research center for 5 years. At age 25, she decided to become an artist, assuming her dream was a necessity. She returned to school and obtained a BFA from Université Laval (1987) and an MFA from Stanford University (2006) in California. She thought she was a painter, but through studio practice and everyday reality, she naturally moved towards producing installation and performance works influenced by readymade and her preoccupation with recycling. She likes to put herself in contexts that shake up her creative habits by doing artist residencies across various cultures. 

Her works have been widely shown in Canada, the United States, Latin America, several European countries, China and Australia. In 2014, she was awarded the Jean-Paul Riopelle career grant from the Conseil des Arts et des lettres du Québec. She received one of the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation grants in New York in 2015. Landry is represented by Vivia- neart Gallery (Calgary) and Carl Solway Gallery (Cincinnati, Ohio).