Arnaud Denis-Longtin is a painter and multidisciplinary artist based in Montreal. Inspired by the international urban culture of tagging and graffiti, Denis-Longtin allows the patterns and circumstances of his personal life to guide his practice. In this sense, his projects often emerge under the alter ego of AORAKI—a sort of alias, shield, and conceptual cloak of invisibility that grants him the audacity and complete freedom to take risks.

Deeply marked by his father’s suicide when he was only 9 years old, Denis-Longtin views his practice as a perpetual quest to return to his childhood and repair this rupture.

His work is characterized by a spontaneous, expressive, and graphic style, using spray paint and mixed media to explore themes of personal awakening, loss and hope, innocence and play. Constantly seeking nuance, Denis-Longtin enjoys playing with contrasts of mediums, techniques, and gestures. The medium—whether canvas, fabric, paper, or object—becomes the spillway for his emotions and experiences through an instinctive experimentation with lines and patterns that appear simple at first glance.

Inspired by pioneers of the aesthetic rooted in 1980s urban culture, such as Harring and Basquiat, Denis-Longtin employs a gestural vocabulary that relies on his own instincts, allowing him to establish a personal graphic mythology. Punctuated with references to popular culture, his works coalesce into deliberate chaos.

Drawn to the self-derision and playful nature of the work of contemporary British artist Slawn, Denis-Longtin is also informed by teachings of the avant-garde movements, particularly through the work of Warhol and Duchamp. What he borrows from them is this unique fusion of art and life, which explores the boundaries of what constitutes art and its modes of production.

Infused with all these influences and a deep artistic confidence, Denis-Longtin stubbornly devotes himself to his personal style and proves that the spontaneous is no less invested and charged.