RIO’s ORIGINE | A SENSORY ODE TO NATURE

On Wednesday evening, October 8, the fifth floor of Holt Renfrew Ogilvy’s Tudor Room became the setting for one of the most anticipated private art events of the season: Origine, the latest collection by Saint-Sulpice-based artist Sebastien Riopel, better known as RIO. True to his reputation as a modern visionary, RIO transported his guests into a luminous world where the primal forces of nature and the sophistication of high art merged in breathtaking harmony.

Raised on a farm in Lanaudière, Québec, RIO has always maintained a deep connection to the earth. With Origine, he pays homage to his roots and the eternal cycle of creation. Each piece in the collection is a meditation on the origins of life, interpreted through the artist’s signature fusion of acrylic, gold leaf, rivets, stones, and fragments of antique encyclopedia pages. The result: tactile canvases that shimmer between abstraction and emotion, evoking both fragility and resilience.

A Universe of Colour and Texture

Entering the Tudor Room felt like stepping into a living canvas.

Artistic director Félix Fournier masterfully brought RIO’s world to life through an immersive scenography that played with light, texture, and sound.

A lush interplay of greenery and roses, designed by a dream team of floral artists — John Christian, Anaïs, Ahmad Darwich, Ash Banks, and Flōr Montréal — framed the exhibition space, infusing the evening with the scent of fresh blooms and renewal.

Pianist Gabriel Robertson Colavecchio provided the evening’s ethereal soundtrack, his notes floating through the room like whispers of the wind, adding an auditory layer to the already multisensory experience.

Meanwhile, five striking models — Tilda Guene, Darina Paramonova, Annie Sama, Evodie Michel, and Cécile Giuly — graced the fifth floor as sitting or strolling “human masterpieces of art,” embodying RIO’s creations through custom garments and metallic accents that mirrored the textures of his canvases.

The Mystery of the Blinded Faces

RIO’s signature blinded lady portraits, always a highlight of his exhibitions, stood as haunting tributes to the women who shaped his youth. Their covered eyes, often shimmering with gold or layered with raw materials, seem to invite viewers to look beyond appearances, into realms of intuition and emotion.

Each painting balances intensity and serenity, structure and chaos, echoing the contradictions of life itself. The colours — earthy greens, fiery reds, celestial blues — reflect the natural elements that inspired Origine: soil, flame, water, and sky. Through experimental layering and ground-breaking material techniques, RIO has achieved what few can: art that feels alive, almost breathing.

The Circle of Friends and Patrons

The event was supported by RIO’s longtime confidante, interior designer and luxury travel editor Stéphanie Bélanger, whose refined taste perfectly complements the artist’s world. Together, they hosted an atmosphere that felt both intimate and cinematic, where conversation and contemplation intertwined.

As this evening, sponsored by Ida Smelianski, drew to a close, guests lingered, captivated not just by the art but by the palpable sense of unity between artist and audience. For RIO, Origine was both exhibition and homecoming, a return to the fertile ground from which his inspiration first sprang.

A Personalized Reflection

For collectors and admirers, RIO also offers the possibility of a personalized masterpiece, a chance, as he describes it, “to look in a mirror through the artist’s eyes.” It is this invitation to co-create meaning, to merge the personal and the universal, that defines his growing legacy.