Bio
Georges Dyens, artist of French and Canadian citizenship, is a graduate of the Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris (Université de la Sorbonne) and the New York Holographic Laboratories.
Winner of the prestigious Prix de Rome in sculpture, of the Prix de la Biennale de Paris and of the German Critics Prize, he made major contributions to the art scene of Europe in the late 60s. He has represented France in numerous International exhibitions such as the Biennale of New Delhi, l’Exposition internationale de sculpture contemporaine Musée Rodin, Paris, the Symposium of European sculptors, Berlin, and the international Biennale di Roma e del Lazio, in Italy.
He was named full Professor of Sculpture at The Université du Québec à Montréal, UQAM in1969, a position he still holds today.
From 1971 to 1981 he also was Chief Curator at the Saydie Bronfman Center in Montreal were he organized numerous international contemporary art exhibitions such as New York Avant-Garde and the Quebec Biennale of Art .
As early as 1980 he was attracted to the ethereal light of holography (a three-dimensional image produced with laser; the only image made of light). In 1981, he created a first 'holosculpture', (an immersive multimedia installation surrounding the spectator) integrating music, light, holography, and sculpture, which, by means of a computer program, produced time-determined effects.
Considered a researcher and a pioneer in holography and in the media arts field he received numerous grants from the Canada Council, the Ministère de la Culture du Québec (CALQ), l'Université du Québec à Montréal, the Rockefeller Foundation (New York), the David Bermant Foundation (New York), the Laflamme-Hoffman Foundation (New York), The Museum of Holography (New York), .Hexagram (Montreal), the Danish Government, and l’Institut de l’Académie de France à Rome.
In 1984, he was named Artist in Residence at the Museum of Holography in New York, where he continued his research into holographic integration.
In 1987, 1990 and 1992, he was selected to show his work at Images du Futur, a major international art and technology exhibition organized yearly in Montréal.
In the fall of 1988 he opened the season in New York. He held two solo exhibitions in New York City, at the Museum of Holography and at the Alternative Museum.
In 1990 he was invited to exhibit Big Bang II, one of his major work in Europe, first in Munich and then at the Centre National d'Art et Technologie of France. That same year he exhibited a series of holosculptures, in Hanover, Germany.
Since 1987, he has created many Public Art works integrating monumental holographic works throughout Canada and represented Canada in numerous group exhibitions.
In 1990 he was selected to become the Director of the Art Holography section at the GRAM, (media arts research group). The MIT Press has published an encyclopedia of holographic terms and a. hypermedia resource on holography.
Since 1992, his name appeared in Who’s who in the East, (new York) Who’s Who in American Art, (New York) Who’s Who in international Art, (Lausanne) Intercommunication Center Data Base (Tokyo). The same year, he was named Member of the Académie européenne des sciences, des arts et des letters based in Paris.
In 1993 he was a guest lecturer at CETEC, Europeen Center of Technoculture
(Université Dauphine, Paris).
In 1994, He was awarded the Shearwater Foundation Award 1994 (USA) for the excellence of his holographic production. The same year, he was invited by the Mississippi Museum of Art to represent Canada in a touring exhibit. This show toured 13 American State museums.
In 1995 he held a solo exhibition at the International Art+Com Gallery in Paris and has been invited to show his work at ISEA' 95 (International Symposium of Electronic Art).
That same year The Musée du Québec has presented a One Man Show of his work to the Canadian public.
The UNESCO, in Paris, showed his work in an exhibition called Science in the Arts in 1997.
In the year 2000, he was invited to represent Canada and to exhibit his work at LUMIA, the International Exhibition on light held at the Museum of Copenhagen, Danemark.
In 2002, Dyens produced the world’s unique International Encyclopedia on HolographIc Art on CD Rom (Holography, the Real Virtual 3D Images), thanks to two grants from the Shearwater Foundation (USA). This CD Rom includes the works of more than one hundred artists.
The same year, Dyens was selected as one of 50 researcher of Concordia University and UQAM to become member of one of the most important art and Technology interuniversity institution called Hexagram. Since that time, he received, in 2002 and 2003, two research grants from this institution in order to accomplish his research on a new holographic process called Holophotogramme, integrating photography and holography.
The same year, the Musée du Bas-Saint-Laurent opened the « ESPACE
GEORGES DYENS» where a major work from his production is permanently
exhibited. Georges is the only living artist to present his work permanently in a
museum
In 2002 and 2004, he has been selected Artist in Residence at the prestigious Center for the Holographic Art of New York.
In 2005, he was invited By the Musée des sciences et de la nature based in Sherbrooke (Canada) to exhibit his works during the Conference on Climatic changes of Kyoto, at the City Hall of Montreal.
In 2009, two one man shows of his works have been organized by the Atelier Silex, in Montreal and by the Musée du bas-St-Laurent.
He has been invited to present a One-Man show of his works at the Butler Institute of American Art of Youngstown (Ohio, USA), in 2011.