1. J.D. Renaud 

2. Dany Reede 

3. Cara Adams / Natalie Baird / Joey Visser (tie)

 

J.D. Renaud slowly makes abstract art, one cut a time. 

Renaud, an Oakville, Ont. native, is starting to get noticed for his unique brand of art. It’s “collage-based artwork made out of old film posters,” by his own description. 

Winnipeg has been his home for eight years and he only took up art professionally three years ago. Renaud is an independent visual artist with a background in performing arts and has dabbled with video and mixed media. Now he’s dedicating more of his time to making new abstract pieces out of old film posters. 

Renaud collects posters from all kinds of films – box office hits or not, Renaud lays down the posters and shows them the knife. Once his desired pieces are cut, Renaud lays them flat on a blank white canvas and applies decoupage paste to the cut up pieces in a pattern of his choosing. 

“I like working with paper. Paper is easy to manipulate, there’s a lot that can be done with it,” he says. 

And as an artist, he finds himself growing with each piece. His newer works display a refined attention to detail where earlier pieces were “chaotic and messy.” 

“They didn’t have any symmetry to them,” Renaud explains. “They weren’t as meticulous as they are kind of now. There wasn’t as much of plan to them as there is now.” 

Renaud’s work has been exhibited at Super Wonder Gallery in Toronto and at Frame Arts Warehouse in Winnipeg, prior to its closing. He also receives regular requests for custom art with particular posters of interest. 

“When people commission me to do something out of a poster I never thought I’d do, it’s a new challenge,” he says. 

Commissions for his art allow Renaud to focus strictly on his craft and be able to pay his rent. He also does stand-up comedy and has put on Winnipeg Fringe Festival shows in the past. 

“I’ve been supporting myself through my commissions. By

Published in Volume 70, Number 13 of The Uniter (December 3, 2015)