Full play: Toy as Metaphor

It was not until the mid-1980s, however, that a pictorial universe inspired by, and then soon dominated by, the toy would gradually assert itself. But before reaching this status, the toy is still accessory: dancing ropes arranged in the shape of a heart on an asphalt background: "Ma plus grande amie"; an overturned bicycle, a melting ice cream and two marbles forgotten in a crevice of the asphalt: "Qui perd gagne". In these paintings, the human presence fades away to become nothing but shadows. These shadows are part of the scene but the attention is focused on the toy that gives meaning to the painting. The toy appears as an essential element in the composition of the painting, where it shares the space with a human presence for a while. The evolution of his artistic vision will gradually drive out any human or animal presence from the painting except for the representation of dolls or mechanical toys.

"Mechanical Self-Portrait", subtitled "Homage to Leonardo da Vinci", although created in 1986, is the first painting of this final period of Claude Bibeau's artistic creation, a period that marks the culmination of his style. This painting was to serve as a pivot between his earlier work and what would follow. The presence of the real is still noticeable: the car racing game which serves as a background to the figure in a position imitating that of the Mona Lisa, is hung on a grey wall which is not translated into a toy. The composition of the painting is thus situated between two worlds, the real and the imaginary of the artist. It is worth noting in passing the very elaborate sculptural frame, made by the artist himself, which gives the whole work the appearance of a large toy. Several of the paintings were later set in often very elaborate frames.

It is with the painting entitled "Sébastien", certainly one of his masterpieces now owned by the Quebec National Museum of Fine Arts, that the real world is erased in favour of a pictorial universe dominated by the toy. Inspired by the Renaissance masters' representations of the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, this immense painting, which Bibeau took almost a year to complete, devotes the complete translation of reality into its own pictorial language. Various types of toys are used to transpose characters, scenery and background landscape. The baroque richness of the compositions and the liveliness of the colours support the artist's half-serious, half-irreverent nod to this religious icon.

As if to test this new stylistic approach and affirm it even more, Bibeau will create a succession of paintings in homage to famous artists: from René Magritte to Amadeo Modigliani, via Jean-Dominique Ingres and the Quebec artist Jean-Paul Lemieux. Far from expressing a satirical view of their work, this series of tributes is a respectful tip of the hat to artists he considers his masters. In other works, on the other hand, the artist's irony is vividly expressed. This is the case in "The Spirit of the Game", where our national sport is seen for what it has become, a celebration of violence, as in the days of the gladiatorial combats of ancient Rome. "The Birth of Love" refers to the birth of Venus and could be a humorous nod to Peter Paul Rubens. Banali-thé", a painting and a sculptural object reproducing the toy and its packaging, we may see a tribute to the classical tradition of the still life. 

Over the next fifteen years, in parallel with the tragic events of his life, Claude Bibeau's major artworks would emerge. Among these was another masterpiece: "Parade", which could be subtitled "Homage to the ship of fools" by Jérôme Bosch. In this work, rich in symbols and allusions, Bibeau describes with force and irony, but also with a certain sadness, the mad race of humanity towards a self-destructive and uncertain future. For some this mad escapade is a source of pleasure and hedonistic satisfaction, others are ejected from it and lose their lives for having tried to recover material goods, assassinated or simply crushed, others finally claim to lead the nave by flying a flag. The overturned bird and the scattered pieces of the green puzzle may symbolise the destruction of nature by human beings. In the rattle, as in the mirrors of the Flemish masters, a self-portrait of the artist could show that Bibeau is there to bear witness to what he sees, while at the same time being part of this world that is heading towards its perdition. In the foreground, a small elephant looks at us with concern. When we have the painting in front of us, if we step back a little, we can see the optical illusion produced by the lines of the checkerboard and the confetti scattered on the dark background. Doesn't it look like a vast glass checkerboard placed in interstellar space where the confetti are the stars?

More intimate and tragic, "Figure of Tragedy", which is also in the collection of the Quebec National Museum of Fine Arts, can express the loneliness and despair of the human being in the face of death. At the time of its creation, Bibeau and his immediate circle were living through the AIDS crisis; several friends and one of his brothers had died or were very ill. Worse, the artist and his life partner recently learned that they had contracted the virus. The eyes of the strangely shaped little bear bear are the focal point of the painting, and they give us a glimpse of the distress, fear and terrible loneliness experienced by the victims of this modern scourge, or simply of what every human being experiences when confronted with illness and death.

"Figures de comédie", another masterful demonstration of Bibeau's talent, is far from expressing the joy of life. There is nothing amusing about the forced, frozen smiles of all these clowns. They are even a little frightening. Perhaps they want to express the facticity of a certain conventional happiness where, very often, one can feel obliged to appear happy if one is not really happy. It is the bought, artificial, superficial happiness of a society gangrenous with the abuse of entertainment. Even the artist participates in this, in the upper left corner, with his hilarious clown make-up. But beware, in the opposite corner, what is that eye looking at us in its triangle? That of another clown, named God by some, or simply Fate...

In October 1997, the death of his life partner, Uwe Von Harpe, sounded the death knell of his career as a painter. This major bereavement, after 17 years of a relationship marked by passion, camaraderie and deep mutual respect, and his own declining health, led him to stop painting. On July 30, 1999, at the age of only 45, after several months of illness, Claude Bibeau passed away surrounded by a few loved ones.

As we have seen, the works of the final period of Bibeau's career are far from being simply playful or amusing, even childish. Just like the pentagram that he hid in his paintings as a secret signature and that he often invited us to look for for our own pleasure, it is only by analysing his compositions and the themes that he tackles, placed in the context of his life, that we can decipher their full richness. One can read in them a metaphor on human destiny, on the reality we perceive and which is perhaps only a grand staging, a masterly fiction, a tragi-comic game in which we all participate without being aware of it.

Bibeau's pictorial language, in which the human being is evacuated to be no more than a toy in his artist's imagination, illustrates his post-humanist vision of the world.