Elucidating the multi-layered explorations of Haitian Canadian artist Manuel Mathieu, this first comprehensive publication focuses on how Haiti has informed Mathieu’s work over the past few years. Reflecting on the complex revolutionary history of his family homeland by unearthing its traumatized subconscious, and the erasure of memories of the oppressive and violent Duvalier dictatorships, Mathieu’s vibrant paintings blur the boundaries between the personal and the political. Merging abstraction with figuration, Mathieu abrades his work springing from found photographs by rubbing and scraping off layers of paint, before reintroducing impastoed snarls of color. Positioned at the fault lines of political and environmental crises, Mathieu considers Haiti’s quest for self-determination as a prism reflecting a global longing for freedom, and grassroots resistance to imperialist and capitalist exploits.

Text by: Amin Alsaden, Osei Bonsu, Edwidge Danticat, Joana Joachim, Sylvie Lacerte, Manuel Mathieu, Gaëtane Verna
Designed by: Irma Boom