"I develop themes, figures, heads, animal forms as points of departure. Being an artist is like jumping off a plane and making a parachute on the way down. Necessity, urgency, and a sense of invention is built into the endeavor."
Born in Montreal, Jean-Pierre Larocque studied Printmaking at Université du Québec in Montréal. He holds a BFA from Concordia and an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (1988). Beginning in 1990 and until 2000 he has taught at numerous universities throughout North America including the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Emily Carr in Vancouver, the University of Georgia in Athens, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and California State University at Long Beach. Since 2000 he has lived and maintained a studio in Montreal. Between 2009 and 2017 he was Chair of Ceramics at Concordia University.
Larocque was commissioned to create a large solo exhibition for the reopening of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramics, Toronto, in 2006. A catalogue accompanied the exhibition, and a film documented the project. A retrospective exhibition was presented at the 1700 La Poste in Montreal in 2019, accompanied by a catalogue and documentary film.
View/download Jean-Pierre Larocque's 1700 La Poste catalogue as a PDF here.
View/download Jean-Pierre Larocque's Gardiner Museum catalogue as a PDF here.
View a 53 minute documentary film about Jean-Pierre Larocque on Vimeo in French here, or with English subtitles here.