Sofia (Sophie Lebeuf)

"Human expression looms through the shape of the animal body. These are interesting analogies that allow allegories for human and animal relationships (...). With this visual poetry, I can use painting as a form of expression to convey the subtle thoughts inhabiting me and to life itself by adding motion, curvature, volume and rhythm (...)." – Sofia
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Biography

Trained in interdisciplinary visual arts at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Sophie Lebeuf has more than 20 years of artistic practice, during which she has explored a variety of media. Today, she primarily uses painting and photography as her means of expression.

Since 2003, she has presented approximately ten solo exhibitions and participated in nearly forty group exhibitions, notably in Canada, Belgium, and France, in galleries and as part of various thematic events. She has also received several awards and distinctions throughout her career. Her works are now included in collections such as those of Arsenal Media and Rio Tinto in Montreal.

Artist’s statement

Sophie Lebeuf is a Quebec visual artist whose practice is rooted primarily in a pictorial exploration in which raw materials become the vehicle for a dialogue between gesture, territorial identity, and expressive force.

At the heart of her approach lies a search for the essential. Through a process of simplification, lines and contours become increasingly sparse, allowing the tension of a body, the presence of an animal silhouette, or the vibration of an emotion to emerge. This deliberate reduction invites viewers to project their own sensitivity into the work.

The red-orange bauxite and deep black coke she uses, drawn from the natural resources and metallurgical processes of the Saguenay region, form an important signature of her work. More than simple pigments, they act as a memory of the land and give her works a distinctive materiality.

Her photographic practice extends this reflection. By photographing the environments in which these materials are transformed and then intervening directly on the images, she blurs the boundaries between photography, painting, and material. Her close-up compositions reveal striated, oxidized, or monochromatic surfaces and offer a reading of the industrial landscape that is more poetic than documentary.

Her restrained palette, dominated by whites, blacks, and ochres, and occasionally punctuated by cobalt blue, reflects a sensitive approach in which formal simplicity, materiality, and symbolic depth hold a central place. Her works speak to viewers who are attentive to the authenticity of materials, the memory of place, and the power of an aesthetic of the essential.

C.V.

Professional training

2002Université du Québec à Chicoutimi – Diploma, Interdisciplinary Visual Art
1994Cégep de Jonquière -Junior College Certificate, Interior Design

Gallery representation

2019Galerie-5, Jonquière (Canada)
2015Galerie du Vieux St-Jean, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (Canada)
2003 – 2018Galerie d’art Jacques Lacroix, Chicoutimi (Canada)

Public collections (Quebec)

2024Rio Tinto Port Facilities, La Baie
2022Arsenal-Média, Montreal
2022Rio Tinto Alcan, Montreal
2015Technosoude Inc., Jonquière
2010Clinique de médecine générale, Jonquière
2006Théâtre du Palais Municipal de La Baie
Several works are found in private collections.

Solo exhibitions (Canada)

2026Présence sensible, Part II, RTA Community Space, City of Saguenay
2026Présence sensible, Part I, 100th Anniversary of Arvida, Musée du Patrimoine, City of Saguenay
2024Lumière et Matière, Hélène Pedneault Library, City of Saguenay
2023La bauxite au cœur de l’art, Rio Tinto port facilities, La Baie
2022Coke et Bauxite, Galerie-5, Jonquière
2018Allégorie, Galerie du Vieux Saint-Jean, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
2016Rétrospective, CGI, Saguenay
2011Rétrospective, Rio Tinto Alcan global headquarters, Montreal

Group Exhibitions (Selection)

2026100th Anniversary of IPSF / RTA, Les grandes veillées, Port Facilities in La Baie
2026Duo, Sofia & PA Vézina, Galerie-5, Saguenay
2026Inspirations féminines, Échos à travers les arts, Galerie du Vieux St-Jean, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
2025Signataire de l’IAF, Group Exhibition, Galerie-5, Saguenay
2025Signatures, IAF Group Exhibition, Galerie Viva Vida, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
2025Fine art et mouvance, Artists’ Collective, Galerie-5, Saguenay
2024La beauté du monde / IAF, Boréart, Granby
2023Signature – collective exhibition, Odyssée des Bâtisseurs, Alma
2023Proprement sale, artists’ collective, Galerie-5, Jonquière
2023Signature – art contemporain, Galerie-5, Jonquière
2023Inspirations féminines, Galerie du Vieux St-Jean, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
2022Syncope, Galerie-5, Jonquière
2019Mondes imaginaires, thematic exhibition – Espace contemporain, Quebec City
2019Internation’Art, 9th edition, Georges-Henri-Lévesque library, Roberval
2018Bestiaire, thematic exhibition – Espace contemporain, Quebec City
2017Deux temps… Deux mouvements, Galerie Loft Gisèle Boulianne, Quebec City
2012Galerie du Presbytère, Berre-les-Alpes, France
2011Exhibition, Galerie Espace, Plateau Mont-Royal, Montreal
2010Exhibition, Georges-Henri-Lévesque library, Roberval
2008International Exhibition, Brouage, France
2008International Exhibition, Halle-aux-Draps, Belgium
2004 to 2021Rencontre des Arts, Dextraze pavilion on the Royal Military College, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu

Creations and projects (Québec)

2026Grand format, 90th Anniversary of the Vaudreuil Plant, Arvida
2025Grands formats sur le thème du sport, gymnasium, Grande-Baie Plant, La Baie
2024Création, Silent Auction, Centre d’histoire d’Arvida
2021Fresco, History Corridor at the Rio Tinto port facilities, La Baie
2014Fresco, Jonquière public library
2010Large formats on the theme of sports, Le Stade, Jonquière
2008Fresco, Hydro-Québec, Brisé and LG4, James Bay
2006Fresco Thérèse et Jos, balcony refurbishment at the Théâtre du Palais Municipal, La Baie
2005Fresco, Le Deauville, Chicoutimi
2003Fresco, Hydro-Québec, LA1, James Bay

Awards and distinctions

2026Mention 14th Land scape, Terravarna, Los Angeles, Jury
2026Mention 13th Open, Terravarna, Los Angeles, Jury
2023Honorary President, 10th Symposium d’art contemporain de Rivière-Éternité (Québec)
2023Honorary Mention, Mondial Art Academia (juried)
2021Mention and distinction in painting, Rencontre des Arts de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (juried)
2021Silver Medal, Académie des Arts Sciences et Lettres de Paris (juried)
2019Chevalier académicienne, Mondial Art Academia (juried)
2018Award for excellence in portraiture for the work « Dreamcatcher », 6th edition Grande compétition internationale d’œuvres d’art, Césure (juried)
2016Certificate, Gala Reconnaissance CNE, Centre national d’exposition de Jonquière
2016Bronze Medal, Académie des Arts Sciences et Lettres de Paris (juried)
2016Selected by a jury of peers for the Salon des artistes du monde with the association Com2Art, Salon du Vieux Port, Cannes
2015Selected by a jury of peers for the Salon SNBA, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris

Press kit (non-exhaustive)

Print press and art magazines

  • Le Quotidien, Progrès-Dimanche, Le Nouvelle Hebdo, Le Lac Saint-Jean, Le Plein Jour, Le Manic; AL13 le magazine de l’aluminium, Magasin’art, etc.

Radio / Television and Multimedia

  • ICI Radio-Canada; MaTV; NousTV; TVA; Podcast ArtZoom, Art Total Multimédia.

Documentary Film

  • Bâtisseurs d’hier à demain, for the 85th anniversary of the Rio Tinto Vaudreuil plant

Visitthe gallery

208, Richelieu St., Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (Quebec) J3B 6X8
Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Thursday and Friday 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
450-741-3939
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