WELCOME TO GREY GALLERY, IN DOWNTOWN OWEN SOUND

Tom La Pierre had a long and full career as an artist and teacher. He was born in Toronto and took drawing classes at Western Technical School before attending the Ontario College of Art. He exhibited widely upon graduation, and acquired various honors and awards, joining the faculty at OCA in 1958, where he influenced many of his students who went on to careers of their own. Figurative work was at the core of his practice, and he loved drawing from the model throughout his life. He worked in watercolour as well as oil, and experimented with both etching and lithography at various points in his career. He died in 2010, survived by his wife Pat Clemes who was a distinguished watercolour artist in her own right. 

La Pierre’s OCA colleague and fellow artist Eric Freifeld described him as “One of the very few Canadian artists of whom it can be said, unequivocally, that he is an authentic genius”. Yet even as early in his career as the 1970s, La Pierre’s work was seen as difficult. The art critic Paul Duval called him “one of the least fashionable painters in Canada” in his introduction to a 1976 exhibition catalogue. By this he meant that La Pierre was true to his own vision, even at the expense of popularity and financial success. The titles of newspaper articles reviewing his exhibitions tell the tale: ‘He Works with Death’; ‘Instructors Bizarre Drawings Respected for Superb Skills’; ‘Tom La Pierre’s Exhibition May Trouble Many Viewers’; ‘A Visionary in the Disturbing Tradition of Bosch’. We will let Tom speak for himself, in an excerpt from the Artists Statement in the catalogue to his 2005 survey exhibition in Mississauga: "I am preoccupied with the nature of man and the human condition and I’m fascinated by the contradictions in life and in man. The opposite poles of life-death, love-hate, good-evil and the animal-spiritual. Life is full of contradictions, contrasts, and is painfully complex, often absurd or bizarre but nevertheless marvellous. … My paintings, my vision, leave my mark, my statement on this curious, wondrous, bewildering existence and provides me with some measure of meaning and purpose". 

We are honored to be able to host this exhibition of La Pierre’s paintings at Grey Gallery, and wish to thank Gayle and Bill Murphy who have made it possible on behalf of Pat Clemes La Pierre, Tom’s wife and fellow artist. You now have the opportunity to judge for yourself.