In Supercherie, Brault deftly orchestrates a clever deception. Behind their naturalistic appearances, the depicted animals do not exist in reality. While the characteristic features of certain species such as salmon, walleye, trout, spruce grouse, kingfisher, and crow are indeed recognizable, these creatures are chimeras, the result of an assemblage of various specimens. In this body of work where animals are the true protagonists, the artist imparts a supernatural aspect to them. Although human beings are also present, they are relegated to the background, represented in a reduced scale and sketched in a schematic, cartoonish style. In this utopian scenario, nature finally reclaims its rights
To emphasize the extraordinary nature of the creatures he depicts, Dan Brault draws inspiration from the aesthetics of science fiction, particularly the superhero subgenre. The beasts, with their hypnotic eyes gleaming in the dark, seem endowed with mythical powers. They float in undefined atmospheres, limbo-like spaces, their three-dimensional silhouettes steeped in vivid, almost fluorescent colors.
In reality—and this is where the genius of Dan Brault lies—this narrative staging is a prodigious deception. In Brault’s work, figuration is an exquisite trap into which one is delightfully ensnared. As a skilled hunter, the painter plays on the viewer’s sensitivity to storytelling, luring them by scattering more or less arbitrary figurative elements throughout his canvases which the viewer will strive to decipher. Creatures, objects, and calligraphic characters thus act as baits to capture the viewer’s attention and lead them astray into the meanders of his essentially abstract compositions. In fact, Dan Brault’s paintings rely on a subtle arrangement and a balance between colors and forms which, interacting with one another, compose a visual symphony with its dissonances and harmonies, all vibrating with a singular energy. Moreover, it is in defiance of figuration that the painter, with childlike mischief, enjoys blurring the reading of figurative elements in his canvases, scribbling them with rough strokes or partially covering them with free and expressive color splashes.
