André Ethier (born 1977) is a Canadianrock singer-songwriter and visual artist, who was formerly associated with theindie rock bandThe Deadly Snakes.[1] He has also released numerous solo albums.[2]
He attendedEtobicoke School of the Arts for Visual Arts and received a BFA fromConcordia University in 2001.
While with the Deadly Snakes, Ethier released his debut solo album,André Ethier with Christopher Sandes featuring Pickles and Price in 2004.[3] This was later cited by his bandmateMax "Age of Danger" McCabe-Lokos as having fomented creative tensions during the recording of the band'sPolaris Music Prize-nominated 2005 albumPorcella, and ultimately to the band's breakup.[4]
Ethier's second solo album,Secondathallam, was released in 2006.[5]
His song "Self-Love" was featured on the soundtrack to the 2007 filmThis Beautiful City.[6] On June 10, 2007, Ethier sang "O Canada" in Los Angeles, where theLos Angeles Dodgers were hosting his hometownToronto Blue Jays. He got the gig because he shares his name with Dodgers outfielderAndre Ethier.[7]
Ethier followed up with the albumOn Blue Fog in 2007,[7] and the sequel albumBorn of Blue Fog in 2008.[8]
In 2011 he contributed to theNational Parks Project, visitingPrince Albert National Park withMathieu Charbonneau,Rebecca Foon and filmmakerStéphane Lafleur to shoot and score a short documentary film about the park.[9]
He concentrated primarily on art through the early 2010s, and did not release an album of new material until 2017'sUnder Grape Leaves.[2] He followed up in 2019 withCroak in the Weeds,[10] and in 2021 withFurther Up Island.[11]
Ethier paints portraits, figures and landscapes in oil, his work has been described as a grotesque realism and is influenced by neo-expressionism, primitive art, underground comic art and the works ofGiuseppe Arcimboldo andOdilon Redon. He has had solo shows at Honor Fraser Gallery in Los Angeles, Greener Pastures Contemporary Art in Toronto, and Derek Eller Gallery in New York. He is represented by Derek Eller Gallery.
InThe New York Times Ken Johnson wrote: "André Ethier's funny, faux-naïve paintings resemble the works of a self-taught, semi-talented high school stoner steeped in heavy-metal music, fantasy novels and the visionary arts of the French Symbolists."[12]
