Charles Gagnon was born in Montreal and travelled to New York in 1955, studying at both the Parsons School of Design and the Art Student’s League. In the years since, he has achieved widespread recognition on both a national and international level. His early work demonstrates the influence of Abstract Expressionism, but his approach to painting and drawing owes more to his experience of seeing as a photographer. In the 1970’s Gagnon produced his “Cassation” series. These works begin as a rectangle within a rectangle, but are made ambiguous through the addition of brushstrokes that cross over into both spaces. Gagnon involves the viewers in the meaning of the work by forcing us to make visual sense of the information presented.