An Uncommon Art gallery in Châteauguay

Painter and sculptor Dego recently opened Art Life, Châteauguay’s first contemporary art gallery in a small building on Saint-Jean-Baptiste Boulevard that also houses a car rental company. He hopes that this unusual concept will provide people with better access to art.

Dego, whose real name is Detlef Gotzens, was born in Cologne, Germany in 1952. After having studied in one of his birth city’s oldest stained-glass workshops, in 1985 he chose to fly to Canada to seek out adventure. He lived in Montreal for a few years before settling in Montérégie.

“I have been living in Saint-Chrysostome for a while, the workshop where I paint on a daily basis and store hundreds of my works is also located there. Some of my pieces are close to three metres wide,” he recounted to the newspaper.  

The artist says he is interested in abstract work, but also by the use of figurative elements that he uses in his paintings. “I think that in both my paintings and sculptures there are elements of free expression as well as more controlled forms, which is certainly an expression of my personality manifesting or being reflected in my work,” he specified.   

A New Concept

The space that houses the small art gallery was intended for a beauty products store which never came to be due to the pandemic. Julius Zavodni, the building’s owner, who is a friend of the artist and a collector of his work, decided to offer the artist the space to showcase his work and offer something positive to the local population.

According to Dego, people are quite surprised to find a gallery when they are waiting to rent a truck or have their vehicle cleaned. “It’s a strange combination with the stores, but I like that, I believe in experimenting with new things, we’ll see where it takes us,” he stated, confidently.

For the painter who had noticed that there was no contemporary art gallery in Châteauguay, this display venue is a good way to give Châteauguay citizens the opportunity to have access to culture.  

For those interested in meeting the artist, Detlef Gotzens confirmed that he is on site at the Châteauguay gallery at 242 Saint-Jean-Baptiste as of noon on Wednesdays and Fridays.