Chanticleer Awakens’ exhibition

From 18 December 2025 to 10 June 2026 | An exhibition of paintings by D. Gagnon-Barbeau

Thursday

Dec.

2025

Wednesday

June

2026

L'Éveil du Coq — © Daniel Gagnon-Barbeau

The Maison Suger invites visitors to discover the works of Daniel Gagnon-Barbeau, created during his autumn 2025 residency. Entitled Chanticleer Awakens, the exhibition invites audiences to experience the rooster’s energy and determination, and to savour his power to awaken and revivify the world through his clear, vigorous crow.

Over the course of his career, Daniel Gagnon-Barbeau has produced an extensive body of work, comprising more than 5,000 pieces. His practice spans large-scale landscapes, more intimate scenes of everyday life, and nearly one hundred portraits of Quebec writers.

His work has been presented in solo exhibitions in Maisons de la Culture and museums across Quebec and Canada, as well as in France and Germany. A member of the Rassemblement des artistes visuels du Québec (RAAV) since 1999, he is also an honorary member of the Musée des beaux-arts de Mont-Saint-Hilaire (Quebec).

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The exhibition opened at the Maison Suger on Thursday, December 18, 2025, at 6 p.m.

In these sombre times, the wake-up call of colour

Chanticleer chases away the demons of the night, stands guard, and at the first glimmer of dawn announces the return of light with his clear and vigorous crowing. In these paintings by Daniel Gagnon-Barbeau, created at the Maison Suger, Chanticleer sings and dances in a display of colour worthy of a French cancan: slips and slides, sparkles and crescendos, all leaping onward in the festival of colour.

Exploring the capacity of colour to evoke emotion is at the heart of Quebec painter Daniel Gagnon-Barbeau’s creative endeavour:

I will never forget the moment, when, from the banks of the Seine, I watched Viollet-Le-Duc’s rooster fall as the spire collapsed during the devastating fire of Notre-Dame in 2019. The works in this exhibition remind us of Chanticleer’s joy, how his morning crowing celebrates the victory of the sun over the darkness of deception, pain and grief. Chantecleer revivifies our life force. He reminds us that the energy and vitality of light can prevail over obscurity and encourages us to be inspired by life’s vibrant colours.

Daniel Gagnon-Barbeau