Richard Greaves
The Cathedral, 2005
Quebecois, contemporary.
Born 1952, Montreal, Quebec.
In 1984, Richard Greaves moved to a large piece of land in the forest, on the edge of a rural community in the Beauce region of Quebec. He completely turned his back on his former life, and around 1989 he began to create a monumental and constantly expanding art environment composed of architectural works made from abandoned barns that he had taken apart and installations made from objects that he had gleaned from the garbage.
Richard Greaves has participated in a number of group exhibitions organized by the Société des arts indisciplinés (SAI), including Chassé-Croisé: Art populaire et art indiscipliné (Château Dufresne, Montreal, 2002; Musée du Bas Saint-Laurent, Rivière-du-Loup, 2003) and Les lieux de l'art indiscipliné
in the Maisons de la culture de Montréal (Notre-Dame de Grâce, 2000; Marie-Uguay, 1999; Côte-des-Neiges, 1999). His work has been written about in the books Vestiges de l'indiscipline: Environnements d'art et anarchitectures au Québec (Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, 2006) and Mondes imaginaires (Taschen, 2000), and in the periodicals Rendez-Vous (December 2003), Raw Vision (Summer 2003), and Création Franche (April 2000).
Selected Exhibitions
2014, Purple States, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York
2005, Richard Greaves. Anarchitect, curated by Sarah Lombardi & Valérie Rousseau, traveling exhibition, Société des arts indisciplinés, Montreal; Fonderie Darling, Montreal (2006); Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York (2006); Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne (2006); Art en Marge, Brussels (2007); Pulperie de Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi (2007)
2002, Chassé-Croisé. Art populaire et art indiscipliné, curated by Sarah Lombardi, Valérie Rousseau & Jean Simard, Société des arts indisciplinés, Montreal; Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent, Rivière-du-Loup (2003); Musée du Château Dufresne, Montreal (2002)
2000, Naïf? C'est à voir!, Centre d'exposition du Vieux-Palais, Saint-Jérome, Quebec
1999, Instants sympathiques chez les artistes indisciplinés, curated by Valérie Rousseau, Maison de la culture Côtes-des-Neiges, Montreal
1999, Les lieux de l'art indisciplinés. Art populaire et art insolite au Québec, curated by Valérie Rousseau, Maison de la culture Marie-Uguay, Montreal; Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal
1991, Symposium en arts visuels, Saint-Honoré de Beauce, Quebec
1989, L'Événement, Symposium de sculpture, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec
1989, Exposition des oeuvres sculpturales de Richard Greaves, Foufounes électriques, Montreal
Selected Collections
Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne
Musée Canadien des Civilisations, Gatineau (Canada)
Pulperie de Chicoutimi, Canada
Société des Arts Indisciplinés, Montreal
Selected Bibliography
Rousseau, Valérie, Vestiges de l'indiscipline. Environnements d'art et anarchitectures au Québec, Musée canadiens des civilisations, Gatineau, Québec, 2006.
Danchin, Laurent, "Richard Greaves: anarchitecte / anarchitect," Raw Vision, No. 53, Winter 2006.
Gómez, Edward M., "Richard Greaves: Anarchitect," Raw Vision, No. 53, Winter 2006.
Dubuffet & Art Brut, exhibition catalogue, Collection de l'Art Brut & 5 Continents, Lausanne/Milan, 2005.
Lamarche, Bernard, "Réenchanter l'art," Le Devoir, November 19-20, 2005.
Hochereau, Alain, "Fonderie artistique," Voir Montréal, November 17, 2005.
Hochereau, Alain, "Architecture anarchique," Voir Montréal, November 3, 2005.
Lapierre, Katherine, "Richard Greaves: Archisculpture - et poésie du territoire," DPI: la revue électronique du Studio XX / Electronic Review, October 25, 2005.
Delgado, Jérôme, "Cabanes de rêve," La Presse, October 19, 2005.
Cloutier, Lynda, "L'oeuvre insolite de Richard Greaves fait le tour du monde," Hebdo régional. Beauce-Nord, Beauce-Sud, et Chemins, October 14, 2005.
Cardinal, Roger, "Le Palais de l'escargot: habitation et expression chez les créateurs de sutes singuliers," Indiscipline et marginalité. Actes du colloque, ed. Valérie Rousseau et al., Société des arts indisciplinés, Montreal, 2003.
Rousseau, Valérie, "Fascination et distanciation: architecture d'un art indiscipliné," Indiscipline et marginalité. Actes du colloque, Société des arts indisciplinés, Montreal, 2003.
Lanoux, Jean-Louis, "Muséologie," ABCD une collection d'art brut, ed. Bruno Decharme et al., Actes Sud & ABCD, Paris, 2000.
Von Schaewen, Deidi & John Maizels, Mondes imaginaires / Fantasy Worlds, Taschen, Cologne, 1999.
Selected Films
Richard Greaves, documentary, 10 minutes, 2005. Producedy by Bruno Decharme, ABCD, Paris in collaboration with Barbara Safarova & César Decharme.
Richard Greaves, l'anarchitecte, documentary, 25 minutes, 2005. Produced by Philippe Lespinasse, Ali Baba & les quarant voleurs productions, Bordeaux in collaboration with Mario del Curto.
