Lee Rabideau

Lee Rabideau (born Roy Lee Rabideau) is a Canadian conceptual artist and writer. Emerging in the late-1980s, he has been an important contributor to the Windsor arts community for more than thirty years.

Born in Windsor, Rabideau grew up in Harrow and was employed as an iron worker after graduating high school. In his late 20s, he began pursuing a bachelor of fine arts at the University of Windsor. His talent and ideas were noticed immediately and his work was exhibited while he was still pursuing his degree. Stairs, Chairs and Other Things, his first exhibit, was shown in March 1987. Larger and more ambitious projects over the next few years. In October 1994, Rabideau unveiled Lesus. The show satirized religion and the worship of icons. Its centerpiece was a large self-portrait of the artist as a Christ-like figure. His next exhibit, Lelvis, which ran from February through March 1995, touched on similar themes. The show was a Graceland-style gift shop that displayed items for sale featuring the Lelvis logo – a portrait of Rabideau with an Elvis-style pompadour hairdo and mutton-chop sideburns. A distinctive feature of Lee Rabideau’s work is his embrace of technology as a medium in his art. One of his techniques include enlarging a small drawing on a photocopier until it was more than six feet long. When computer technology was first beginning to emerge in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Rabideau utilized printed images in his pieces.

Rabideau has recently turned to writing as a outlet for his artistic creativity. He owns and runs We’ll Fly Press and has self-published three novels.

Sources and Further Reading:

“Windsor Artist Rabideau Makes His Point in Unique Way,” Windsor Star, November 3, 1994, page 22 (Express Magazine)

“The King (of Souvenirs) Takes Tackiness to New Heights,” Windsor Star, March 9, 1995, page 13 (Express Magazine)

“Students Art on the Market,” Windsor Star, March 21, 1988 page A5

We’ll Fly Press Facebook page