It is with great pride and honor that I present to you Haitian art lovers, Yvon Alexandre, I do that with the utmost pleasure. As you must by now already suspected that this site is no ordinary painting selling gallery website, no no no not just about selling painting here, there is a poetry, spirituality {of the highest order}, tragie comedie humor or story telling, all organized and supported by "little mini Zemis" in the background, forgroung , middle inner ground, upper ground, lower ground and allground ect...you cannot fail to miss... anyway how do you feel?... a little grounded?.....You don't know?....a little dizzy perhaps? Ah, ha,ha....don't worry before it is all over, you will be well enveloped and transported, flying in heights you never tough existed.........
A major correction on Mr Far page. After an absence of 6 years I thought Mr Far passed away, however he is well and alive but did suffer physical and psychological damage after the loss of his studio and everything inside it. He told me after that lost he could no longer paint in color and have abandoned the name MR FAR. He told me he is now simply YA, Yvon Alexandre. However I will try to commission some work out of him. Anyway I'm very glad he is alive and well. I will update his page with a recent photo. Since the artist is alive I re-calibrate the prices.
There is real gold offered here in the form of spiritual currency to the initiate, It shines and glows as matter or monetary value is being negated here. For sale in reverse. money on this page here have been negated rendering it irrelevant or meaningless, voided of value, like matter dissolving at the end point....... the point of this story is a soul cannot be bought or sold at least not with human currency Now let's enjoy what Mr Far gave us from his "bag of treasures"........
I met Yvon in the early 1980s in Haverhill Ma. Cantave Studio has already been established and I had a whole floor at an old mill building. From all the friends I tutored Yvon was the only one who bears fruit. His very first finished painting was painted at the studio and he named it "MR FAR".
As Yvon explained his whole life to me. that he was very, very slow to learn, which leads his parents to believe that he was mentally retarded. So they never send him to school. So he confided in me that at his age he did not know how to read or write. He secretly suffered because of this. And that his childhood was not ordinary. He befriended identified with a number of rejected individuals in his home town of Les Cayes. There was a woman with a head bigger then her body, there was a homeless he took pity on and gave him his own meal often. That man lived under a tree. All of Yvon's paintings are related to some events in his life. He considered the paintings as extensions of himself.
When I questioned him about MR FAR, Yvon said MR Far if the high person in himself and that Mr Far is a millionaire living on earth as a beggar. At the studio he would draw figures of a homeless man carrying a very large bag on his head. The bad was so big and heavy that Mr Far hardly can carry it, so he dragged it at times. On and on and on, you get the picture...... I often would asked him what Mr Far carries in his bag? The answer is always "treasures Joseph" treasures all sort of wonderful treasures.. If you had a chance to get close to Yvon you cannot but meet Mr. Far and be amazed delighted at the character. Yvon was basically a dreamer of Mr Far or was Mr Far a dreamer of Yvon Alexandre?
Also when you get to know Mr. Far, he will never fail to chock you. chock you with uncontrollable laughter or painful grief. Once he finished painting the painting titled "Mr Far" I knew he was an natural-born artist, composition, color coordination including very importantly intend to convey or communicate. so I suggested that he join the Haverhill Art Association, which he did immediately and submitted "Mr. Far" for the annual art show.............. I must tell you Yvon shook that town to the core. Mr far made front page on both town news papers, The Haverhill gazette, and another one I don't remember its name. Even thou they were making fun of Mr Far, nonetheless, Yvon shined and bathe in glory. For Mr Far has stolen the show. That's the only thing every one talked about. People were shaking, scratching their heads, holding their chins, exhausting their mental faculties trying to understand what cannot be understood at least not with regular senses. Sometimes enjoyment doen't have or need any meaning at all to have great value or vise versa....Priceless.
The fact of the matter is Yvon's Mr Far had a price tag of $250,000.00 two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. A cool quarter million.....Ah, ah, ha.SWWEETT...ah, ah, ah.
Yvon, Claude, and I barbecued all weekend at Auntie Loue's house in celebration of Yvon's success and victory. When The Haverhill Art Association finally realize what did actually happened,......Wait a minute Joseph Cantave. Can you please tell us what did actually happened? Well the simple truth is Yvon was just being honest. Mr Far is a real millionaire according to Yvon. But on a higher level, what really happened is that Mr Far, navigating undetected or in stealth mode, broadsided the association's ship and the super ship was capsized and layed out flat, resting peacefully on it's side.......
So to return to the story, when the association realized what happened, feeling bruised and injured, the association in their vexation then retaliated in full force, they immediately ban, annulled, revoked Yvon's membership for his pertinence and insolence specially in view of Yvon's audacity, innocent as it may seems. To them Yvon was simply an unknown outsider and to close the matter they created a new law in the organization's charter limiting the price of any artwork to under $2000.00. Mr Far painting was just a 16"x20". Furthermore every painting would have to pass a jury system before entering the shows ( translation...A state of the art radar system put in place to detect any Yvon Mr Far from far away distances}.Now you see...............
To really grasp the full humor in that story, you should also read what happened to my own sister Sheerly Cantave after she was send to anger managmnet classes from a high profile company where she held a high position with her own private office......Uniquely Haitian.
Years later Mr far moved to Roxbury Ma and became a picture framer, i gave him 5 small Mario Montilus to frame when I came to pick up the framed paintings, Yvon looked at me simply and honestly told me he lost them. they were rolled up and fell from his coat pocket in a bus.....................
We will write more then 1 page for this artist as he was a close friend in the 80's and took up painting after me. I did not have to train him or anything, he was totally self-taught. i only stressed the importance of cleaning one's brush after each use and the opposite of colors. The star was born dubbed "MR FAR".
"MR FAR" oil on canvas painted in 1987. 16"x20" was the very first painting made by Yvon Alexandre. Which is in reality a self portrait. Yvon eyes were crooked and the right eye , which he told me he could hardly see in normal circonstances, was slighty discolored. Yvon told me that eye did not see the world like the left. When possessed by Mr Far that eye becomes the leading vision which creates and which becomes a helmet that encompassed his beign and also protects him. Painting current location or condition unknown.
Yvon Alexandre "The Spiritual Ladder"" oil on canvas 32"x45".. Current condition or location unknown....................
I believe there exists a high current of mysticism running underneath not just Haitian culture but a lot of other cultures on different continents as well. That current persisted and survived the different ages, all sort and all manners of genocides and still alive today in the age of the IPhone and "AI". Take this Yvon's painting for example, as he explained it to me is, the figure on the ladder is himself moving up the ladder. The steps are so small and so close to each order it takes real effort just to hang on, it is a constant balancing act to be there yet one is moving up, each step could be a year or more. What is significant in the painting is the figure up there on the left. In the recurring visions and dreams of Yvon, every time he looks up he sees Mr Far, who is also a part of himself, ever refreshing and dashing already 10 steps or more ahead looking down on him and when he makes eye contact with Mr Far the dream or vision ends. Signifying approval of progress. These dreams and visions are similar to many Haitian artists including me Those dreams feed on the mystical current that permeates and connect peoples and countries all over the world unknowingly. As for myself, they include real tormenting nightmares since childhood. To some individuals, these powerful dreams may seem evil as one can be persecuted or being buried alive and so on. Which have lead many selected individuals to go rushing, screaming and running with both hands in the air going into converting to all sort of different minor and major religions and all sort of cults seeking protection and liberation from the link, unknowingly, cutting off link to their own liberation, salvation or enlightenment. In fact what they went looking for on the outside is buried deep inside their own-self, all the signs, apparent coincidences dreams and visions including nightmares are pathways to their true identity.....Those pathways are accessible to all included the severe mentally retarded, the poor, gay or whoever greatly suffered innocently because their mental state and soul have been well crunched, battered and smoothly made for easier transformation or rebirth into spirit for passaging or transit.
It looks like we maybe all are part of something we are not aware of yet. Prescribed rituals, written or oral traditions may have been erased, annulled, wiped out or simply lost but very deep ancestral memories remains and persist, memories that may go very well beyond the first human to the very source of it all.. Which I firmly do believe the source of which is in the eternal realm , an incomprehensible reality or consciousness which is outside of the bounds of life and death, In fact, it is elements from this reality that have set the bounds, foundations and limitations of this universe with just their will they pronounced everything inside it into existence. So everything inside it have a resonance with that source which has well regulated everything by laws of death and rebirth , .Those entities outside of any thoughts or concepts including past, present or future, they alone are responsible for and maintaining the whole thing, did so and doing so just with empirical balance or equilibrium, thru their internal and integral magic the whole thing exist, to be more precise, they dreamed and projected the material into existence, which we are reaching out to consciously with issued licence, in order first to effectively make the case then to herald not just a new age or era but a totally new birth..........Joseph Cantave reaching the egg and impregnating it........
Yvon Alexander Mr Far "Compassionate Love" oil on canvas 30"x40"........As you must already imagined this is no ordinary couple, the oddity of their lives and what brought their union about is truly amazing.,,. Compassionate love is truly appropriate here as the word compassion have a whole different set of emotions added to the already loaded feelings in the word passion,..... Don't worry, after I give you the details about this painting you will understand. . ..To be continued...........
Now the story, One day Yvon came to the studio very depressed with a droll face wanting to admit something. As I'm always all ears, so I asked him Then he went to tell a beautiful love story....
First, it started out very bad as he explained how he made a fool out of himself.
He said for weeks he has been going to Adult Learning Center in Lawrence MA the town next to Haverhill MA. It was a charity program runs by the Catholic Church in order to help adults, especially immigrants to learn English and get their GED. Yvon said he doesn't how did they not discover that he could not read or write for so long. It was not until it was time to take a test they finally found out. Even thou he was not timid but he just could not approach those nuns and told them from the start why he came to the Center...After he finally explained to them that he simply wanted to learn how to read and write, he felt relived ...During these explanations, an adult student named Julia from Sweden who also spoke french and German was also present. After that the nuns explain to Yvon that he would have to take kindergarden classes in order to learn A,B,C,D, which the Center did not offer. So Julia promised to help him................ He would later from time to time told me of his progress, and especially about their relationship which had turned romantic. Even thou Yvon up to now have passed a number of girlfriends including Haitian, African American ect... he never experience love like this before. He said the lengh of travel Julia had to undergo to come to these sessions were surely sacrificial and compassionate on her part. None of his previous girlfriends would not come even halfway to Julia's efforts. The patience she displayed was like she was performing some kind of duty. Almost like she was sent by MR Far. He also said when making love, he feels like he was Adam and Julia was eve, nobody or nothing existed beside the experience. Love for nothing or love for love's sake he exclaimed. And it was also only with her he was totally free to be himself, to speak his broken french {Francais Maron} without anyone laughing or look down on him. In fact, he spoke so much French until his heart was contented, Julia had to intervene of so much French for Julia had to explained to Yvon in broad terms that speaking French Italian Chinese or Swahili are nothing more than human verbal forms of communications. There are much more deeper and comprehensive form of it humans have yet to know. Art in all its forms are also modes of communications . ..... After 3 months Yvon learned the alphabets and the basics of reading and writing Julia left and went back to Sweeden................
Painting currently at Cantave Studio, price upon request.....
Yvon Alexandre "General Antie Lou and her nephew Little Jimmy, neices Rose and Sharleen who was always smoking." oil on canvas 36"x48". Current location at Cantave Studio. Price upon request.
Please note before continuing reading. This story is ! RATED PG ! not because of profanities or vulgarities but because of the reason and nature of the fun...... Enjoy.
Claude Berthold Yvon and I were very close friends and we had tons of fun together. One of the unforgettable time we had was at a barbeque given by auntie loue. Auntie loue was around 48,very pretty, tall and extremely strong and we men were all in our 20's, all real studs.. Auntie Loue was in the US Army in her youth which have given her an authoritarian flair... To be frank,.she was a veritable cougar, a real predator. Young single men sooner or later crosses path with cougars and on occasions and at times one get scratched, hopefully thankfully getting away without any deep wounds, for some cougars could be quite dangerous.
The fact of the matter is we all did drugs with Antie Loue, We smoked reefer, however, we knew her well and she knew us well also,she knew what was acceptable and what was prohibited. Back and shoulder massages, caressing, touching and tickling were all ok, maybe an occasional playfull kiss on the lips or on the neck, a little grabbing here and there and these were innocently done enjoyed reciprocally, vise versa. But holding and unzipping were unacceptable and pinned down or lockdown were red flags, signals to slip and get away as fast as one could from her.
From time to time during the Summer she would invite us to her barbeques, To be honest, we were not really interested in her, it was her nieces Rose, Sharleen and their friends we were really after.
On one particular barbeque, early in the day Claude brought the beers and i brought the gin, for she loved gin. That perticular day she changed the rules, one by one she invited us to the room. I was the first one to go in, after getting quite mellow yellow with her alone she violently pushed me to the bed and jumped on top of me, but as soon as she pushed me I bounce right back up from the bed fought and wiggled my way out of the room laughing haughtily at auntie Lou's intrepidity. Then she grabbed Claude, a little while later Claude ran out laughing also,apparently slipped away from Antie Lou's grip. But when she grabbed and took Yvon in, oh my goodness.... .it was a whole different story altogether. A short moment after they were alone, a fight ensued inside. We could hear blows and foot noises, furniture moving ect.., all kind of locomotions inside the room. Aunty Lou and Yvon were in a veritable wrestling match, both verbally and physically. With such a comical atmosphere a healthy dose of laugher overtook Claude and I as we wondered, debating who would won the contest. It was such an amusing state of affair our laughter turned continious as the opponents engaged in this full sportmanship contact competition. But when our good combatants had subsides thier swingings and punchings what come next is for the ages for what we heard, To our great delight, submissive moaning noises as if surrendering victims, were coming out of both participants in this great match, so we wondered what were the nature or kind of wounds our great fighters were suffering from for letting out such incongruous moans? As the moments unfolds you will see my dear reader, yes I'm taking you along my reader step by step so you can see for yourself so no one cannot accuse me of deviancy or taking part in any acts of voyeurism. Everyone present aware of everyone...... For things have truly changed, for it was now a whole different kind of swinging exchange if you know what I mean, my dear reader are you still there? ah ah ah .... ....a new climaxing level was reached when Auntie Loue started issuing, giving, dishing out orders at times in commanding tones other times in softer tones, and to our great disbelief and astonishment were the responses in accordance and in harmony coming from Yvon's answering to each order, it was just too intense, we could not resist anymore, our legs gave in, and we both fell down, rolling, rolling and rolling overwhelmed with unstoppable, uncontrollable laughter. In convulsions we were grasping, fighting for air in a foetus position as if overdosed with pleasure, with tears in our eyes we could of easily died of laughter in that unforgettable moment, as we both instantly realized without a doubt that this sort of affair, this kind of activity between these two valiant gladiators was not just a first time occurrence. Those two knew their businesses very well and went about it with great enthusiasm and gusto as we cheered them on. Anti Lou became General Antie Lou and Yvon became captain Yvon as both played and acted their role respectively, forcefully and with great vigor. After a good while engaging in such funfilled activity and when they finally came out, Auntie Lou with her large light eyes was gleefully smiling from ear to ear as she bowed to our sustained applauds, for she was the clear winner. But for Yvon, poor Yvon, he did not fair too well, he looked disoriented and exhausted and out of breath, his hair in disarray, his shirt wrinkle and untucked and most visibly and astonishingly of all is that on top of a swollen face Yvon had also a giant black eye witch forced us to resume our laughter. General Antie Lou also broke out laughing as she could not help but to notice Claude had pie in his pants, for he had two beers that morning he could not control.. To expand the fun further auntie Loue, who was not shy. after lighting and passing a big fat joint, asked Claude and I not to just be mere spectators but to join in the fun next time, for she had specific tasks for each of us. The laughter continued all day. The best barbecue I ever had. Every shot we had that Summer was in honor of Captain Yvon and the great General in cheif Auntie Lou who gave us this unforgettable good time. Please note the dashing Joseph Cantave won the heart of Rose that Summer without any effort at all, being courteous, charming and polite was all it took......a Small gossiping news, it was rumored that Little Jimmy who was openly gay had the hearts for Yvon and vise versa. ...............................................................
Auntie Lou passed away in July 2017.
Yvon Alexandre MrFar "Hidden Hand Feeding The Birds Under The Magic Tree of Flowers". Please note the magicienne sprouting on the upper left supporting a burgeoning flower.. Oil on canvas 34"x44". Current location Cantave Studio. Price suspended,
A big irony about the value of art. Yvon Alexandre gave his best painting up to date to his family for Christmas in 1992 only to learn the following year they had put it in the trash the very next day after the donation. For they did not know anything about art let alone "ART BRUT". The fact of the matter is Yvon's art is real as real and pure as art can be. A man-child's heart revealed visually. And I was here to recognize it at birth, help nourished and expose it
