Jean Gaudreau was born in Quebec City in 1964. At a very young age, he demonstrated a keen interest in drawing and painting, which led him to pursue a visual arts course at Laval University. In 1990, Jean Gaudreau traveled to Europe, where he studied the works of the great European masters. After exploring various avenues, Jean Gaudreau opted for non-figurative art.

In 2003, Jean Gaudreau was invited to present a solo exhibition at the Cirque du Soleil in Montreal. The years 2009 and 2010 marked another major turning point in his life. Robert Lepage expressed an interest in showing the painter's works during the Moulin à images presentation. Gaudreau shared this honor with pillars of Quebec art such as Jean-Paul Lemieux, Alfred Pellan, and Jean-Paul Riopelle. This participation in Moulin à images earned him international visibility.

Beginning in 2012, Gaudreau explored the integration of recycled copper fragments from the former roof of the Château Frontenac and the Price Building in Quebec City. These recovered pieces of copper, oxidized by the verdigris of the years, are an extraordinary source of inspiration for the artist and represent a major turning point in his artistic journey. Since then, the artist has packaged around a hundred retouched, folded, reshaped, sculpted, and numbered copper fragments.