Jean Paul Langlois was already a dedicated painter as a teen while simultaneously gaining notoriety in the Vancouver punk and indie scene for his performance noise band, Scratch recording artists, HUMP. During this time, he had his first solo painting show in 1992 at the Rogues Gallery (Now Deluge) in Victoria. After attending various art schools and institutions in Canada, he ultimately opted for a life of independent study, which he continues to pursue passionately. Throughout the 90s and early 2000s, he exhibited his work consistently at galleries in Victoria, Vancouver, Nanaimo and Toronto. During a residency at Make in Vancouver in 2016, he produced the collection ‘Fake Indians’, which featured portraits of white actors portraying Indigenous characters in film and television. This body of work served as a reflection of his uncomfortable relationship with his own Métis identity.
Following this period, the work became more personal, often reflecting upon the contrasting backgrounds of his parents’ families- his father being Métis and his mother coming from an affluent Anglo-Saxon Protestant family. He produced numerous series of paintings that relate these family narratives, such as ‘Escape From the White Witches: The Graduation of Eli’, the account of his grandfather’s experience at residential school. He continues to achieve ongoing commercial success working with Fazakas Gallery, the Vancouver Art Gallery Rentals and Sales, as well as various other galleries, exhibiting and presenting artist talks.
In 2018, he completed his first large mural for the Vancouver Mural Festival (VMF) and has since created murals in numerous cities across Canada. In 2020, Jean Paul was awarded a Canada Council Grant to attend the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC) residency in Dawson City. The following year, he received a grant to embark on a plein-air painting tour that took him across Canada and to the Northwest Territories. In 2022, he completed a short film that documented his journey titled Quest For Something Reel or painting places I saw in crusty old films in a school gym, which has been screened in both Canada and France. In 2023, he attended a month-long residency in France at the esteemed Château Orquiveaux. In 2024, Jean Paul attended a 4-month self-directed residency in Los Angeles, California, which culminated in a solo exhibition and charity fundraiser. In 2025, Jean Paul was accepted into the Kapishkum Métis residency at the Banff Centre with 17 other Métis artists.
His practice continues to evolve and expand and has recently added ceramics, sculpture and photography to his repertoire.
-Written by Roberto Chicoutimi
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Which ’hood are you in?
I’m currently looking after my 86-year-old Mom on Vancouver Island (she has dementia) and regularly commuting to my studio in East Van. I will move back full time as soon as she shuffles off this mortal coil. I am starting the MFA program at Emily Carr in the fall, so I will be back in the hood even more than I am now…
What do you do?
I’m primarily a painter, but I’m also known for murals. I’ve done some big ones, right across Canada. I’m also into street and landscape photography and ceramics.
What are you currently working on?
I have a bunch of projects. ‘Grandfather Killed the Last Buffalo’: A series about the Métis buffalo hunt and my great, great, great, great grandfather Jean-Baptiste Gariepy, the buffalo hunter. I’ve travelled to the Cypress Hills where the last hunt took place and Elk Island to see the wild herd as well as Batoche to see the graveyard where my relatives are buried… I’m also working on an exhibition with Daina Warren and Krystle Silverfox about Buffalo Slot machines. We are doing a ‘Fear and Loathing’ road trip from LA to Vegas next month for inspiration…
Where can we find your work?
I am represented by Fazakas Gallery in Vancouver. You can also see my work at the VAG Art Sales and Rentals as well as in Toronto at The New Other. Also, you can follow me on Instagram.
