October 2007

Melanie Authier wins an Honourable Mention in the ninth annual RBC Painting Competition. The jury selected from over 690 artists from across the country. The national winner and two honourable mentions were selected from the 15 semi-finalists and awarded $25,000 and $15,000 respectively.

The goal of the competition is to support and nurture Canadian visual artists early in their career by providing them with the forum to display their artistic talent to the country. The winning paintings will become part of RBC's Canadian Art Collection.



Summer Issue Border Crossings Magazine 2007

Melanie Authier by Cliff Eyland

Imagine contemporary art as a collection of marching bands, each of which must toot its tubas down an obscure street until allowed – if ever allowed -- a chance to play on the boulevard. After its moment in the sun, every art band is pushed off to the sidelines to await -- as loudly as possible! -- its next turn.

Is abstract painting ready to march down main street again? The winner of the most recent Turner Prize competition, Tomma Abts, makes modestly scaled abstractions nothing like Melanie Authier's, but her ascendance is widely seen as encouragement to contemporary abstract painters.

Brice Marden and Elizabeth Murray's recent MOMA shows got artists thinking again about abstraction, but I don't know many young painters like Authier who are as committed to making ambitious abstract paintings, even if in conversation she talks as if such improvisational abstraction were common.

The authority and confidence of Authier's work hit me square in the face as I entered her aceartinc show. People who paint like this are usually much older than this audacious youngster, or dead. I thought of artists such as Paul Jenkins, Helen Frankenthaler, William Ronald and, closer to home, Winnipeg's Don Reichert and Diane Whitehouse as I scanned the works....



July 2007, Artscape Magazine, Written by Susan Scott

The Beautiful and the Sublime

It isn’t often that a twenty-something artist gains representation by a well-respected art gallery. But abstract painter Melanie Authier has done just that. Even before she finished grad school, London’s Michael Gibson Gallery added her to its stable of artists. What makes this even more remarkable is that Authier’s inclusion was the result of a cold call. Out of the blue, she contacted the owner Michael Gibson by mail.

"I was researching galleries and was very interested in the Michael Gibson Gallery because they’re active in the Canadian and international art scenes,” says Authier, “I thought they would be a good fit.”

Michael Gibson agreed. Even though several hundred artists approach him every year, Authier stood out from the pack. In addition to her artwork, he admired her initiative, professionalism, willingness to go the extra mile, clear vision, and confidence. But there was more. “What I look for is dedication to the craft. Will they be lifelong artists? Do they have the skill to get through the touch times when they’re not selling or when they’re waiting for people to catch up to what they are painting? And I saw that in Melanie,” Gibson explains.

The relationship has quickly borne fruit for Authier. In 2006, Gibson included her work in three art fairs and this July he is giving her a solo show in his gallery...



April 26, 2007

Melanie Authier to exhibit at Ace Art Inc. an artist run gallery in Winnipeg, MB. She is exhibiting new bold and colourful acrylic paintings.