Tag: exhibition

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Illustrating new worlds with old objects

Saba Heravi's piece is comprised of small drawings, thread and fabric. Photo courtesy of Saba Heravi.

Introducing two artists from the first annual VAVxCUCCR residency

In celebration of the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR)’s first year of operation, the centre will host their first annual residency in collaboration with the VAV Gallery. Together, the VAV and CUCCR have selected seven undergraduate fine art student-artists who will be featured in an exhibition on March 22. The artists have been tasked with creating zero-waste artworks using CUCCR’s materials.

The Concordian will profile the artists-in-residence each week leading up to the birthday event. Last week’s issue featured Bianca Arroyo-Kreimes’ animation, Ballad for the Spirits, and Gabrielle Desrosiers’ sunset studies.

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Roxane Fiore has a DEC in graphic design from Ahuntsic College, and is now in her last year of painting and drawing at Concordia. She works primarily in drawing, but relies heavily on collage for inspiration and compositional components. Collage allows her to create new perspectives by enabling her to “access things that are beyond what I can invent,” Fiore explained.

Roxane Fiore sifted through magazines to find images suited to her vision.
Photo courtesy of Roxane Fiore.

While searching for images, Fiore looks for textures, colours and unrecognizable shapes among figurative imagery. She flips through magazines, tearing out and cutting up pieces that intrigue her. Then, she scans all she has collected in order to work with the images digitally.

“I have a large digital collection of random pieces that I can use and gather together, and there is a lot of chance happening in my work,” the artist revealed.

Fiore enjoys the element of surprise that comes with juxtaposing random images with each other. Once satisfied with the juxtaposition, the artist will add, remove and play with different features until she creates something balanced that catches her eye.

Sometimes, Fiore will take the individual collage pieces and make a manual assemblage to photograph. That process allows her to obtain shadows and create an interesting “trompe-l’oeil,” or illusion.

Usually Fiore creates large works, but for the CUCCR residency, she has adapted her process. “This time around, I was scanning through the material found at CUCCR with an idea of the type of imagery I was looking for,” Fiore said.

This project, titled Places I Have Never Been to; Things I Have Never Seen, is a series of small, square drawings measuring 7.5 inches, drawn in pastel and charcoal. “Their small size invites the viewer to search for details and experience the world through my eyes,” she said. This series illustrates her perception of the world. She is in a constant search for form, shapes, texture and colour. The pieces also exemplify how she crops images in her mind, focusing on the beauty within the everyday and the mundane.

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Saba Heravi was born in Iran and moved to Canada five years ago to continue her studies in architecture. Heravi has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Azad University of Mashhad in Iran, and received her master’s in architecture here at Concordia. However, she always wanted to study fine arts and become a “career artist.” Heravi is currently finishing her third year in studio arts at Concordia, with a major in drawing.

Her work revolves around the ideas of home, identity and memory. As an immigrant, the collision of cultures and identity is the artist’s daily reality. Heravi’s work approaches this broad subject in fragments, so she can make sense of what is going on.

“I try to tell intimate stories by utilizing objects, stories and photographs,” Heravi explained. “In my work, objects and belongings become as important as the subject to expose the narrative. They are an integral part of my narrative.”

Heravi creates pocket worlds for the many different versions of herself. Photo courtesy of Saba Heravi.

Recently, she has been working on drawings of little worlds. The population of these worlds consist of women and young girls, all representative of herself. The artist’s characters are calmly engaged in strange activities and poses in relation to their surroundings. For example, some may be doing yoga, and some may be dropping or breaking things on purpose.
Initially, Heravi planned to use drawing as the main medium for the residency project. However, after exploring CUCCR’s depot, she realized drawing alone wouldn’t convey the message she was aiming for. “I decided to mainly use objects from CUCCR, and drawing as a secondary tool. This way, CUCCR’s recycled material would play the leading role in my project,” Heravi said.

The artist used a lot of stationary materials, fabric and string to accompany her drawings, as well as some hardware, like screws and bolts, to assist with the installation process.

“The objects vary, which I think is whats makes this projects challenging. You don’t necessarily find the objects you had in mind, and you will end up using something you had never thought of,” Heravi explained. At CUCCR, this very moment Heravi describes is referred to as “CUCCR magic.”

Mark your calendars for CUCCR’s birthday at the VAV Gallery on March 22 at 6 p.m. Stay tuned for next week’s profiles of student-artists Gabrielle Mulholland, Laura Douglas and Mikaela Kautzky.

Feature photo courtesy of Saba Heravi

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Cycles, transitions and reanimating materiality

Photo courtesy of Bianca Arroyo-Kreimes.

Introducing two artists from the first annual VAVxCUCCR residency

In celebration of the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse (CUCCR)’s first year of operation, the centre will host their first annual residency in collaboration with the VAV Gallery. Together, the VAV and CUCCR have selected seven undergraduate fine art student-artists who will be featured in an exhibition on March 22. The artists have been tasked with creating zero-waste artworks using CUCCR’s material.

The Concordian will profile the artists-in-residence each week leading up to the birthday event.

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Bianca Arroyo-Kreimes moved to Montreal from Toronto three years ago to pursue her studies in animation. Arroyo-Kreimes is an experienced digital artist and is currently in her third year in animation.

“I try to see my art as a way to explore the many ideas I have going on in my head,” she said. “It’s a way of resolving them, I guess.” Most of her past work focuses on mythology, humanity and identity. Arroyo-Kreimes enjoys experimenting with under-camera animation methods, such as stop-motion.

Her work, Ballad for the Spirits, is a collection of one-minute video loops that address ideas of karma, the afterlife and recycling. Using a great mass of odds and ends like buttons, metal knobs and string from CUCCR, Arroyo-Kreimes has given these seemingly random objects a new purpose, a new shape, body and voice.

“The objects are now awakened and alive again in the bardo [a state between death and rebirth], as objects pass from one hand to another similarly to the way karma works,” she said.

The way she sees it, karma, rejuvenation and the recycling of objects are linked and belong within the same imaginary venn-diagram.

Ballad for the Spirits is a collection of one-minute video loops that address ideas of karma, the afterlife and recycling. Photo courtesy of Bianca Arroyo-Kreimes.

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Gabrielle Desrosiers completed a DEC in set and costume design at the École de théâtre de St-Hyacinthe in 2007, and began her BFA in studio arts at Concordia in 2014.
The foundation of Desrosiers’ work lies in her travel experiences. Last year, she spent a semester abroad at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, Israel.
Desrosiers is a multidisciplinary artist, focusing on performance art and installation, combining various elements and mediums. For the residency, she is presenting part of a research-based project. She is fascinated by the gradient colours of the sunset and twilight period right before nightfall. Currently untitled, Desrosiers’ installation questions the metaphysical and psychological effects, reactions and suggestions of this

Desrosiers’ piece is based on the gradient of colours found in the sky during sunsets and twilight. Photo courtesy of Gabrielle Desrosiers.

natural, observable phenomenon.

“I paint gradient colours of the sky and sunset on a flat surface, which is similar to the frontal position our body takes to look at it,” Desrosiers said. “But, in fact, the sky is all around. The sky is not a surface; it is an intangible, three-dimensional thing.”

She explained that her goal is to recreate the gradie

nt motif on a structure by reconstructing the two-dimensional surface and transforming it into an engaging, three-dimensional experience.
“I think that the verb ‘to experience’ is really important here,” Desrosiers said. She reflects on the twilight period as a symbol of ending and beginning. “It’s a transition,” she said. “A moment of time sort of suspended […] It is the end of something, and the beginning of something else. It’s a cycle.”

Desrosiers selected material from CUCCR that seemed interesting in connection with her research. She recalled spending large amounts of time in the depot, which led her to be inspired by the textures and patterns, or materiality of the objects. Desrosiers’ installation uses large sheets of paper, found objects, latex paint and a kiosque tent, all courtesy of CUCCR.
The artist said she is glad to be part of the CUCCR residency, as its zero-waste goals are similar to her own. She reuses her own material and often re-integrates them into different projects. “I feel like there is no complete finality in each of my projects,” Desrosiers said. “They can continue to evolve or merge [with others].”

Mark your calendars for CUCCR’s birthday at the VAV Gallery on March 22 at 5 p.m. Stay tuned for next week’s profiles on student-artists Roxane Fiore and Saba Heravi. Follow the Concordia University Centre for Creative Reuse on Facebook and Instagram @cuccr.

Photos courtesy of the artists.

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It’s a matter of time and place

What do impressionist-inspired paintings, sculptural pieces about political language and a film exploring cultural identity have in common? They’re all featured at the FOFA Gallery’s ongoing exhibition, Matter of Place.

Matter of Place is this year’s edition of an annual undergraduate exhibition which aims to represent the diverse art practices and research interests of students in Concordia’s Faculty of Fine Arts. This year, the mediums used in the exhibition vary greatly, from paintings, photography and ceramics to videos, textiles and audio art.

In addition—as is the case every year—students from several other departments contributed their talents to the exhibition. Concordia professor Angélique Willkie’s contemporary dance class was invited to participate by choreographing performances inspired by the exhibition’s artworks, and a number of art history students were tasked with writing essays about each piece in  Matter of Place. These essays have been published in a catalogue created by Concordia design students, which is available to view and purchase at the gallery. The exhibition’s interdisciplinary approach welcomes the viewer into an immersive and multifaceted experience.

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Florence Yee studies painting and drawing, which she described as more traditional fields of art. Her installation at the exhibition, This is Not Photorealism, is a collection of seven paintings hung together salon-style in the vitrine of the FOFA. Most of her paintings reference Claude Monet, a 19th century French impressionist artist who painted water lilies he imported from Japan. Monet even bought land in the French countryside so he could build a large, Japanese-style garden and paint the flowers in their quasi-natural habitat.

“I always liked Monet’s paintings as a child,” Yee said. “As I grew older, I realized that many people associated me with water lilies because I’m an Asian woman and I’m sweet like a lotus flower. Sometimes, it can be a good association, and other times, it can feel like a stereotype.” Yee said she was interested in how these Japanese symbols came to represent French nationalism. She reproduced original Monet paintings to look like blurry photos taken by tourists, including a timestamp at the bottom to indicate when she made each piece.

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Chris Mendoza is a third-year studio arts major with a minor in art education. His sculpture and performance pieces were inspired by the 2016 American presidential election. Mendoza said he finds political language fascinating.

“I was just really interested in language and how it affects the way we perceive the world around us,” he said. “The performance that I submitted was a bit of an exploration of that.”

According to Mendoza, the sculpture is elevated by his accompanying performance. The objects of his sculpture are arranged in a certain configuration, and his performance adds meaning or use to the objects.

Given that such a small number of students are chosen to participate in this exhibition, Mendoza said he feels it is definitely an accomplishment to have his work included.

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Although one of Kevin Jung-Hoo Park’s latest films was selected for the exhibition, the piece, titled Letter(s) from a Gapping Zone, is unfinished.

“It started out with following my father’s oldest memory—when he went up to the mountain with his father to bury his one-year-old sister,” the film production student explained. The film has since evolved into “an autobiographical fiction of a filmmaker who fails to find home.”

For the purpose of the film, Park tried to pinpoint the exact location in South Korea where his aunt was buried. This search was also done in the hopes of reconnecting with his roots, because Park said he has always struggled with his Canadian identity.

While editing the footage, Park said he realized he was just hurting himself by delving into his family’s past. The film takes place in the village where his grandmother lives and where his father was born, yet Park said he felt like an intruder. Since the villagers aren’t used to being filmed or photographed, they were constantly staring at Park while he worked.

Eventually, Park said, he hopes to develop Letter(s) from a Gapping Zone into a longer documentary piece by adding voice-over narration about his experience making the film.

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Camille Lescarbeau’s piece, titled Doux Labeur (2017), is comprised of a hand-typed book and a tape recording. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Born in Gatineau, Camille Lescarbeau moved to Montreal five years ago. She studies art history and studio arts at Concordia, but is currently travelling in Iceland. Her contribution to the Matter of Place exhibition is a hand-typed book on a shelf with a tape recording. The piece, tiled Doux Labeur, was created last year in her Art X class, a course that emphasizes “critical and conceptual thinking over medium-specific creation,” according to the university website.

When asked what inspires her to make art, Lescarbeau said it is often her creative friends. “I was a dance teacher in high school, so I have been surrounded by people who dance and do music. Many of my friends write poetry, so their writing also inspires me.”

Matter of Place runs until Feb. 23 at the FOFA Gallery in Concordia’s EV building. The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The performance evenings run until Feb. 8, each starting at 5 p.m. Entry is free. More information can be found in the event section of the Concordia website.

Feature photo by Kirubel Mehari

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Still life is anything but lifeless

Belliveau uses bronze and aluminum casting to transform living objects, like flowers and fruit, into solid, permanent works of art. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Elisabeth Belliveau discusses inspiration for her exhibition, Ballroom

Elisabeth Belliveau, an award-winning Concordia alumna, still life animation artist, sculptor and art professor, opened the doors to her new exhibition, Ballroom, on Feb. 2.

The exhibition will be open for a month, and will feature a two-channel, seven-minute animation loop along with related sculptures.

The works in this exhibition were created during a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 2016. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

“Fragile, vibrant and transformative,” are three words Belliveau used to describe the works in Ballroom.

The exhibition reflects on historically female art practices, such as genre painting, which portrays scenes from ordinary life. In the past, women were not permitted to paint religious portraits or court paintings, which limited them to painting still life.

“I look at the work of artists who were creating floral arrangements, still lifes or food that were coded and symbolic,” Belliveau said. “They could bury narratives, meanings and stories within these still life paintings that seemed really innocuous but were really complex. I think that’s really exciting to think about; women painting and finding their way into that world within those limitations.”

Belliveau has participated in an array of residencies across Canada and internationally. She began the works included in Ballroom during a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in 2016. The theme of the residency was still life, which focuses on the arrangement of inanimate objects. Throughout the residency, Belliveau had the opportunity to work with bronze and aluminum casting.

Envisioning and crafting the transformation of materials was one of the artist’s favourite processes while creating the exhibition. These transformations are often done using delicate and temporary objects, such as food and flowers, that are casted into more permanent objects using metal. “It’s still fragile, but I really love that transformation, which is why I think I love animation too,” Belliveau said. “There’s something still, and then it transforms into something with emotion. I like that moment, that flip.”

Inspiration for Ballroom came from a selection of novels written by Brazilian author Clarice Lispector, including The Stream of Life and The Hour of the Star. These novels, as well as paintings by Giorgio Morandi, an Italian still life painter, sparked Belliveau’s ideas about time, transformation and still life. These ideas became intrinsic to Belliveau’s own work.

“Thinking a lot about Giorgio Morandi’s practice, reading Clarice Lispector and really reflecting on the history of still life inspired me,” the artist explained. “I’m an animator, so I think about what it means to bring still objects into life, into movement and into emotion.”

Belliveau elaborated on her work in another residency in Japan last summer, where she focused on Japanese traditions of still life and the genre of vanitas art, and was inspired by the rules of Ikebana—the Japanese art of flower arrangement. “In terms of still life, there’s this kind of European tradition. I tried to mix it up with some of the things I was really interested with in Japan,” she said.

Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

For Belliveau, still life is about domestic life and the objects surrounding us. “Paying close attention to what things are and where they come from link to ideas about labour, production, who makes things, how they get to our table and all the political movement around that,” Belliveau said.

Taking part in residencies is a crucial aspect of Belliveau’s creative process. As a full-time assistant professor at MacEwan University in Edmonton, Alta., Belliveau is constantly busy throughout the academic year. “Residencies are the best way for me to have a total break from thinking about school and my students,” she said. “Usually, during the year, I’m stirring up ideas and I can’t wait to get back to the studio, so residencies have been incredibly important to me.”

Belliveau is currently preparing for her upcoming month-long residency in Fukuoka, Japan, this May where she will work with a 3D printer.

“I love to travel to see work, and I think that’s sort of what I do; I collect things, I read things and I try to see as much art as I can,” the artist said.

Ballroom is on display at La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse (4296 St-Laurent Blvd.) until Mar. 2. The gallery is open from Tuesday to Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. Entry is free.

Feature photo by Mackenzie Lad

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Reframing history with Scattered Remains

As part of the Oraison/Orison series, a large red net pulses up and down, mimicking the action of breathing. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Nadia Myre contributes her work to Woman. Artist. Indigenous. at the MMFA

Influential Indigenous artist Nadia Myre’s latest exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is part of Woman. Artist. Indigenous., “a season at the museum devoted to female Indigenous artists,” according to the museum’s website.

Titled Tout Ce Qui Reste – Scattered Remains, the exhibition is a retrospective of the artist’s work, combining five of Myre’s series created since the turn of the millennium: Indian Act, Grandmother’s Circle, Oraison/Orison, Code Switching and Meditation (Respite). This selection of artworks, along with the rest of Myre’s body of work, focuses on the retelling of Indigenous history and uses traditional Indigenous art practices and found objects to challenge Western colonial narratives.

After reading the curatorial statement outside of the exhibition, viewers walk through the doorway and enter a large, dark, rectangular room. In this space, Myre’s series are nicely moulded together, with two- and three-dimensional artworks covering both the walls and floor of the room. The black walls and low lighting allow for backlighting and the white of the artworks to have an illuminating presence in the dark space.

Myre’s piece, titled Indian Act, displays the entire document covered in red and white beading. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

The longer, perpendicular walls of the room are filled with large white-on-black photographic and textile pieces from Oraison/Orison (2014) and Code Switching (2017). The shorter wall to the left of the entrance features a looping video artwork as well as multiple images from Meditation (Respite) (2017). Across from this are more images from this series, works from the Indian Act (2000-2002) series and hanging sculptural pieces from Code Switching. The large installation works from Oraison/Orison and Grandmother’s Circle (2002) are spread out on the floor.

The curatorial presentation of the dark room and backlit artworks is both visually striking and thematically relevant, symbolizing what Myre intends to do in her work—repurpose Indigenous cultural objects to create light in a dark history.

The Indian Act artworks are perhaps the most explicit reference to Indigenous politics in the exhibition. Created with the help of many fellow Indigenous artists, this series of framed textile works takes on the challenge of covering up all 56 pages of the Indian Act using red and white glass beading. Myre’s piece draws attention to the legal rights of First Nations people in Canada, which are so often written over and ignored.

A tobacco-filled basket is part of the artist’s series titled Oraison/Orison. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Grandmother’s Circle is a visual depiction of the artist’s attempt to trace her heritage. She unfortunately discovered very little about her Algonquin side, due to her mother being placed in an orphanage. In this work, large wooden poles are tied and placed together to create structures in the shape of wishbones. The MMFA’s website describes them as “a barrier that symbolizes the access to ancestral wisdom that was denied to Indigenous peoples,” similar to the residential school system.

The Oraison/Orison series, made up of both print and installation works, explores the permanence of memory and the impact life events can have on our bodies. A large kinetic installation piece, made of a red fishing net, moves up and down, mimicking the action of breathing. An oversized woven basket filled with tobacco—often used in First Nations ceremonies—wafts a subtle smell throughout the gallery space. A series of prints depict the white thread stitching on the back of the Indian Act artworks, and are reminiscent of scars on one’s skin.

Another part of the Oraison/Orison series, prints of white thread hint to scars on one’s skin. Photo by Mackenzie Lad.

Circular prints from Myre’s Meditation (Respite) series depict several close-up photographs of traditional meditative beadwork. These beaded designs are inspired by Indigenous spirituality and images of the cosmos, and explore the neverending properties of the universe.

Myre’s latest series, Code Switching, was produced during an artist residency sponsored by the MMFA. The artworks in this series are made of the collected fragments of European settlers’ pipes, which were historically used along with tobacco as currency with Indigenous populations. According to the museum’s website, Myre reclaims these fragments and repurposes them, using traditional beading techniques as a way of “sparking reflection and building bridges between cultures.”

Tout Ce Qui Reste – Scattered Remains will be on display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts until May 27. It is located in the museum’s Discovery Exhibitions section, which is free to visit for people under the age of 31. For those over 31, entry is $15 or free on the last Sunday of every month.

Feature photo by Mackenzie Lad.

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Two artists, two mediums, one exhibition

From left, Rosamunde Bordo and Laurence Pilon pose next to their work. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Deçà Delà: From painting to printmaking, artists share meditative processes in a joint exhibition

“Deçà delà” is a French expression meaning to unite two separate sides, places or ideas as a way of expressing variety and highlighting differences, while introducing a subject as one cohesive matter.

The current exhibition at Ymuno Exhibitions takes inspiration from this expression, and unites two artists of different mediums—painting and intaglio printmaking. Rosamunde Bordo and Laurence Pilon are both recent Concordia graduates, and share similar approaches to their art. Both artists work in layers and restrict themselves to simple colour palettes.

Bordo holds a bachelor’s degree in Western society and culture, and a minor in print media. Her work is inspired by landscapes, topographies and maps. “In my practice,” Bordo explained, “I toy with the notion that the physical act of making is like an act of remembering. Through recording, repeating and multiplying, I use different techniques in print media as forms of documentation that undergo processes of mediation and transformation.”

Bordo transforms her initial inspirations into symbols, such as the arch and the window, two of the most prominent symbols in her work.

Arch IV is a small, unique print of 12 variations. It was created by Rosamunde Bordo this year. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Bordo starts by etching into a copper plate covered with resin. She then dips the plate in acid, which eats away at the areas where the resin has been removed, creating an image or template. Bordo has made 12 of these etchings, and each final print is composed of at least one plate. Some are created by layering several different plates. Arch II and III are nearly identical, but one has one less plate than the other. Arch IV stands out from the rest as Bordo used fewer plates and focused more on the colour. Bordo said she wishes to “emphasize tactility as a way of addressing notions of presence, temporality and change, and use subtle gestures and suggestions to consider broader cultural implications.”

The idea behind the use of arches in Bordo’s work comes from her experience in Maine this summer. According to Bordo, the arch symbolizes the sun. Whether it sets or rises, the sun always encompasses the whole sky. Its light seems endless, yet Bordo limits it by containing it within a geometric shape in her etchings. One striking commonality between Bordo and Pilon is the size and colours of their work. Bordo’s prints are, on average, three by four inches in size, while Pilon’s paintings are all about five by seven inches. The size of their work renders the exhibition quite intimate because the pieces change drastically when viewed close up or from a distance.

Arch II and Arch III are nearly identical. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Pilon graduated from Concordia in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. Her work has received great distinction, and she has been awarded several grants and scholarships in support of her art, including the Betty Goodwin Prize in Studio Arts and the Lise-Hélène Larin Scholarship, both awarded by Concordia.

Pilon’s process begins with flipping through books and studying archives, art history and music. The musical influence of Claude Debussy, a classical French pianist, is prominent in her work. Pilon urges viewers to listen to Debussy’s music and think of the light it emits when looking at her own work. Like Debussy’s compositions, some of Pilon’s pieces are light and airy, while others are dark and sombre.

Pilon may start painting based on what she sees around her, but ends up with something completely different. This journey is the most important part, in her opinion. In the transformative process of layering and uncovering, Pilon’s work is muddled with the regeneration of her paintings. That is, she paints over something, sands it down and repeats this action until she is satisfied.

Pilon alludes to industrial materials like concrete and steel, shown here in Multi Blue (Clematis) and Avant Garde (Peony). Photo by Alex Hutchins.

The artist regards her pieces more as objects than works of art. In her artist statement, Pilon wrote, “my paintings-objects can also be interpreted as critical responses to contemporary conditions of consumption, endless expansion and instantaneity.”

She is inspired by the arts and crafts movement of the 1920s and postmodern strategies of artmaking. The artist also listed the post-impressionist artists known as the Nabis, the set designs of the Russian ballet and colour field painters as specific inspirations to her work.

Some of Pilon’s paintings have an intentional dusty quality. The artist allows her paintings to gather dust as they dry. She mixes paint dust gathered from the sanding process to emphasize this effect. She paints to capture changes in her subject’s form and its relationship to light.

Pilon’s paintings often mimic other materials, like cement, sand and metal, as is evident in Multi Blue (Clematis), and Avant Garde (Peony).

“Encouraging in their viewers a prolonged visual engagement,” Pilon said, “the resulting objects evoke a sense of timelessness and indistinct familiarity, while communicating paradoxical feelings of fatigue and hope.”

Deçà Delà will be on display at Ymuno Exhibitions until Dec. 16. Ymuno is a joint gallery space and studio for artists Madeline Richards and Ben Williamson, and is located on the fifth floor of the Belgo building (372 Ste-Catherine St. W., studio 530). The gallery is open Thursday to Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Feature photo by Alex Hutchins.

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Developing a signature in contemporary art

New York, 30x30 in. The centrepiece of the exhibition, this work is a prime example of dynamic tension, according to professor Norman Cornett. Photo courtesy of Norman Cornett.

Marie Jo Maillé revives the Canadian Plasticien movement in Géométrie Variable

“My artistic career began in New York City. I can’t dissociate myself from it and all of the city’s possibilities.”

Marie Jo Maillé was born in Montreal in 1948, and found her love for the arts at a Mont-Orford arts camp in 1964. However, Maillé only began taking painting seriously after a trip to France, where she discovered op art (optical illusion art) and the work of Victor Vasarely. In 1976, the artist continued her studies in New York at the New School for Social Research and the Pratt Institute of Graphic Design. Today, Géometrie Variable, her recent body of work, is featured at Georges Laoun Opticien.

Carnaval, 16×16 in. Photos courtesy of Norman Cornett.

Inspired by the artists mentioned above, Maillé creates her own style by merging elements from the work of Josef Albers and Vasarely. Maillé’s artwork follows the Plasticien, non-figurative painting movement, showing clear similarities to Guido Molinari’s linear abstraction and the added geometrical influence of Yves Gaucher. It is also interesting to note that Molinari and Gaucher were both some of Canada’s and Concordia University’s most important professors in visual arts.

Most of the time, Maillé uses a board to paint on. She begins by using a solid colour for the background, and proceeds to cover sections with masking tape. “That’s where my adventure begins,” she said. “I construct my project from a few [random] lines. With an X-Acto [knife], I remove a part of it and apply my first colour. I continue by using other colours and creating new shapes. Sometimes, I cover my whole canvas with masking tape and discover my painting when I remove all the tape. It’s an exciting moment.”
Maillé’s paintings consume the sides of her canvas, an aspect specific to her style.

“I want to represent the stability in the instability,” she explained. “I try to give a sense to a world that doesn’t make any sense. For me, painting is a way to breathe. I wouldn’t be able to live well without this way of expressing myself.”

Norman Cornett, a former McGill professor and the exhibit’s curator, said art is nothing without sight. Neighbour to Montreal’s Museum of Fine Arts, Georges Laoun Opticien is a gracious promoter of artists who aren’t well known. According to Maillé, the shop doesn’t charge artists for use of the gallery space and they don’t take a percentage of the artist’s sales.

Géométrie Variable, 10×10 in. This painting gave the exhibit its name. Photos courtesy of Norman Cornett.

According to Cornett, music played a pivotal role for both Molinari and Gaucher, as it does for Maillé. These artists were able to put music into geometric forms, capturing dynamic and musical tension on canvas. “If a musician saw my paintings, he would be on familiar ground,” Maillé said.

Classical and jazz music are integral to Maillé’s life and artwork. The artist is influenced by music and her paintings reflect that.

Also passionate about art and music, Cornett explained that “by juxtaposing archetypal geometric forms and primal colours, Maillé creates a [sheer], dynamic tension that bespeaks psychological complexity.”

Géométrie Variable will be exhibited at Georges Laoun Opticien (1396 Sherbrooke St. W.) Monday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Nov 29.

Photos courtesy of Norman Cornett

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Scaling down everything except fear

Goldman’s piece titled Hold Tight draws the viewer into a tiny scene of terror. Photo by Luca Caruso-Moro

Arms and legs outstretched, he felt the wind whipping through his hair and the blood rushing to his head. If he looked down the cliff edge, he would see a man splayed out, bloodied and dirty. Though he would give anything to be released, if the man holding him loosened his grip, he would surely fall from a fatal height.

Roughly six inches.

This scene is from Abigail Goldman’s miniature tableau Hold Tight, part of her highly original series Dieorama. The affectionately-titled solo show, Sweet Dreams, is Goldman’s newest installment to the series, showing at the Station 16 Gallery until Nov. 18.

Dieorama is a series of small-scale dioramas depicting murder scenes, often taking place in middle-class townhouses, open-concept office spaces or picturesque fields. The violence is cold-blooded and the figures are graphic and, of course, small.

Sweet Dreams plays with violence and humour, engaging the audience immediately. Photo by Luca Caruso Moro

Goldman creates her nightmare dioramas out of styrofoam, model train sets and dirt from Las Vegas—as she described to Atlas Obscura, “something about that fine, sun-baked dirt is the best.”

Goldman called Sweet Dreams “a push-pull relationship between the grotesque and the humorous. Ideally, this common thread runs through the show like a bit of delicate tension: Should I laugh or should I cringe?”

As gruesome as the dioramas are, they are also very funny. A grandmother wields a shotgun on postcard-perfect rolling hills, a man showers with a bloodied scrubber, and a woman eats a man’s head at a table set for two.

Goldman’s scenes are fictional, but her subject matter is well researched. Formerly a crime reporter for the Las Vegas Sun, Goldman now works as an investigator for the Federal Public Defender in the District of Nevada where she spends her time uncovering stories for criminal defence cases.

Goldman manages to find and beautifully exploit a delicate balance of dark subject matter and ironic humour with over-the-top scenarios and incredible attention to detail. The result is an unexpectedly compelling method of storytelling.

“My primary consideration is story—what can I do to pull someone in and make them wonder what happened here,” Goldman said. “[I’m] hoping to find a narrative that leaves the viewer with something, whether that means feeling disturbed or amused.”

The exhibition, which showcases a selection works from the artist’s Dieorama series, will be on display until Nov. 18. Photo by Mackenzie Lad

The small scale of Goldman’s work is critical to its impact. Blood-drenched garden shears, dogs eating their owners and cauldrons full of of limbs are especially poignant on a scale usually reserved for model trains and science fairs.

“The dichotomy is preposterous,” the artist remarked.

The tiny scenes resonated largely with audiences. Viewers at Station 16 Gallery leaned in and strained their eyes to fully absorb the obsessive detail in landscape, movement and gore.

The success of Goldman’s work is due not only to her whimsical storytelling and impressive dexterity, but to something much deeper. As Goldman explained to Juxtapoz Magazine, people hold back a lot of anger to be polite, and so the dioramas may scratch an unexpected itch.

“By condensing rage, miniaturizing it, making violence preposterous and humorous—maybe there’s some relief,” Goldman told Juxtapoz. Perhaps stress and anger are easier to handle when we can observe our most violent thoughts made comical by these tiny displays. In this case, however, we might have to squint.

Dieorama is a joyous example of commitment to craft, animated storytelling and garish humour.

Don’t sleep on this one. Sweet Dreams is not to be missed.

Sweet Dreams will be on display at Station 16 Gallery until Nov. 18. The gallery is located at 3523 St-Laurent Blvd, and open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and until 5 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is free.

Feature photo by Luca Caruso-Moro

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In between realism and abstraction

Concordia graduate, Layla Folkmann works with her best friend and “artner,” Lacey Jane, as Layla & Lacey Art. Photos by Alex Hutchins.

Concordia alumna Layla Folkmann experiments with a new style in her latest exhibition

“It was really freeing,” said artist Layla Folkmann when asked what creating her newest exhibition was like. Folkmann, who identified as a figurative painter until recently, explored a completely new style while working on the pieces of her exhibition titled 3AM.

The artist, who moved from Edmonton to finish her BFA at Concordia about six years ago, is part of an artist duo with her best friend, Lacey Jane. The two call themselves “artners” and now work under the name Layla & Lacey Art. In the summer, Folkmann and Jane travel across the country and abroad painting murals. In the winter, they return to Montreal to dedicate time to their own work which is often exhibited in the BBAM! Gallery space. The artists have been working with the owners of BBAM! since moving to Montreal, and Folkmann said they are the duo’s biggest supporters.

It was Ralph Alfonso, who co-owns the gallery with his wife, Alison Rogers, who came up with the concept of 3AM for Folkmann’s exhibition. According to Folkmann, Alfonso suggested it because he felt the “magical time [of night]” suited her pieces. Folkmann experimented with more abstract techniques as a way to “break free” from her usual portraiture and figurative pieces. The practice of letting go of her realistic painting style evolved into a collection of 59 smaller pieces that now make up 3AM—one for every minute of the hour. It was by accident that Folkmann ended up with 59 pieces, but when the concept of time came up, it fit perfectly. Collectively, the works echo the intimate, tranquil energy of nighttime.

Folkmann’s pieces in 3AM began as an exercise with abstraction and evolved into an entire collection of work. Photos by Alex Hutchins.

The pieces, which were loosely inspired by nightscapes and out-of-focus photographs, range in colour from deep blues and purples to fiery reds and yellows. In an effort to step out of her comfort zone of using more vibrant colours, Folkmann began 3AM by working with neutral tones and subdued hues. The artist pointed to her pieces titled #16, #17, #18 and #19 as the beginning point of her experiment. These works are comprised of beiges, greys, soft purples and greens, with spots of yellow and white that emulate points of light in a blurry photograph.

The entirety of the exhibition is displayed on one wall of the gallery, which effectively illustrates a continuous flow, like minutes ticking by on a clock. Further down the wall from #19 are pieces titled #41 and #42, which Folkmann said are most effective when viewed as a pair. These two are on canvases the size of a hand, and are the artist’s favourite pieces out of the entire collection. “These are inspired by a landscape across a lake,” Folkmann said. “It’s dusk, and in the far-away distance you can see lights twinkling. Where the blues [are], you can see the inspiration of water and the sky in the nighttime.” #41 and #42 are finished with a glossy topcoat, catching the viewer’s eye and differentiating them from most of the other pieces, which have a matte finish.

Every piece in 3AM is a different size and shape. “I really admire people who use found objects and assemblages, and [who are] being creative with format. I find that if you’re just using a canvas of the same size all the time, it can get a bit repetitive,” Folkmann said. For these reasons, she decided to use found objects like frames and plaques, and repurpose them as the pieces in 3AM. “Each canvas or frame or whatever dictates what I’m going to paint on it. So each one is different. I’m not always starting in the same place, so it keeps it fresh,” the artist explained.

There are 59 pieces in 3AM—one for every minute of the hour. Photos by Alex Hutchins.

Keeping her work interesting, not only for the viewer but for herself, is an important aspect of Folkmann’s art practice. She said the switch from her usual realistic style to a more abstract technique came from her wanting to step away from an approach that demanded such accuracy and definition. Embracing a completely different technique, paired with using found materials and the freedom to create something “more genuine,” allowed Folkmann to remain interested and excited about her work.

After exploring abstraction through the pieces in 3AM, Folkmann mentioned that her approach to portraiture has changed as well. “I’m looking more at colour and light, as opposed to just the image and trying to copy the image. You’re never going to make it more accurate than the image, so I want to make it more interesting than the image,” the artist said. Going forward, Folkmann said she wants to practice both portraiture and abstract work simultaneously, saying that the styles can “have a really interesting conversation” when practiced alongside each other.

3AM will be displayed at BBAM! Gallery until Nov. 5. The gallery is located at 3255 St-Jacques St. and open Tuesday to Sunday, from 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. (and until 8 p.m. on Fridays). Entry is free. For more information on the duo’s work, check out their website, laceyandlaylaart.com, or Instagram page, @laceyandlaylaart.

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Finding fluidity in Canada’s Indigenous history

With her work in hochelaga rock, artist Hannah Claus hopes to provide a deeper understanding about the area’s Indigenous past. Photos by Alex Hutchins.

Concordia graduate Hannah Claus premieres her new work in hochelaga rock

Fluidity and change in connection with the history of Canada, specifically the Hochelaga Rock monument, are the focus of Hannah Claus’s exhibition, titled hochelaga rock, which opened at Articule Gallery on Oct. 20.

Hochelaga Rock is a commemorative stone located on the McGill campus, on Tiohtià:ke land Jacques Cartier visited in 1535. Claus’ use of this stone in her work broadens the conversation around its presence, meaning and significance, and of First Nations and settler worldviews in general. Claus is a graduate of Concordia’s fine arts master’s program. She created the exhibition this past summer during her time as an artist-in-residence with Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC) and Milieux, Concordia’s institute for arts, culture and technology.

Claus’ work consists of several large photographic prints of Hochelaga Rock, each modified differently and preventing a clear view of the statement written on the rock’s plaque. Small, circular forms create this obscuration, varying from piece to piece. Some are black, and in one case they are small images of running water and foliage. Paired with these prints are several hanging, coloured acrylic sheets in various colours, each with different words carved into them. “Karahkwa,” meaning ‘sun’ in Mohawk, is written on one. “Ohne:ka,” meaning ‘water,’ is on another.

There will be a discussion with the artist about her exhibition at Article on November 4. Photos by Alex Hutchins.

The inspiration for the installation came to Claus from a number of different places, including the 150th and 375th anniversary celebrations of Canada and Montreal, respectively. Focusing her work on the history of Canada and Montreal was significant to Claus because of the many inaccuracies often found within the country’s history and the glossing over of deeply rooted colonialism.

The lack of detail and misrepresentation of Hochelaga Rock’s history in a textbook’s description of the stone also motivated Claus to create this exhibition. She explained that the textbook devoted 10 lines to describing how Jacques Carter “found” the Iroquois village the monument now commemorates and that it was simply gone when Samuel de Champlain arrived decades later. The small amount of information—with a predominantly colonial focus—on this important part of Canada’s past left a space that Claus said she hopes hochelaga rock will fill with deeper understanding and consideration for this historical matter.

Another source of inspiration for hochelaga rock came from a visit to Edmonton, Alta., earlier this year when Claus was a contender for an art commission in the area. While there, Claus met with the First Nations elders of the Dene and Cree communities in Edmonton to talk about the area and its history. She also visited a site that was to be developed into an Aboriginal art park. Before European contact, the site was used as a gathering place where travelers would leave from to journey across North America. At this time, Claus explained, trade was a ceremony, a coming together of people. It was not simply about the exchange of goods, but about the communities and connections as well.

“When I heard the Dene elder talking about Hochelaga, it felt like I found a missing link that could explain the ‘mystery of the disappeared St-Lawrence Iroquoians’ discussed so briefly in history books,” Claus said. “Knowing about the connections between this place and others across the country—the fluid space of people traveling and gathering—inspired me.”

According to Claus, the physical form of the stone was also significant to her. “There is the solid nature of the rock, acting as a marker or monument for one version of history,” she explained. “To me, rocks hold memory. They are the land and the ancestors. In this project, I try to disrupt the solidity of the history that is placed on this particular rock.”

Through personal experiences and research, Claus was able to identify a common theme of fluidity in Indigenous history, which contrasts with the notions of stability brought on by colonization and settlement. Focusing on the rock as a subject—an object that is solid, strong and rarely changes—Claus plays with its meaning.

Along with the installation and photographs, hochelaga rock also includes a video component in the form of a film loop of different Facebook Live videos. The subjects of these social media films are the peaceful protests over First Nations lands and contested areas that have occurred since the Oka Crisis in 1990. By including footage of recent  events in the exhibition, the artist said she hoped to connect the history of Hochelaga to the contemporary issues occurring on Indigenous land. “It’s important to me to bring us out of a historical moment and into the present,” Claus said. “These issues of place and peoples are still pertinent and real.”

hochelaga rock will be on display at Articule until Nov. 19. The gallery is open Wednesday to Friday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and on the weekends until 5 p.m. Admission is free. There will also be a discussion with Claus at the gallery on Nov. 4 at 3 p.m., as part of the exhibition.

Photos by Alex Hutchins

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Arts

The vibrant landscape of our political climate

A viewer observes Grenier’s piece, titled What We Want / What You Want. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

“If I was to … think about how to position myself within the current political landscape, which words or concepts would I use to start laying down the ground?” This was one of the questions artist Nicolas Grenier asked himself when creating the works for his most recent exhibition.

The multi-disciplinary artist and alumnus of Concordia’s fine arts program teamed up with Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran to present Precarious Geographies, a collection of paintings examining ideas of political and social structures. Grenier, who is interested in contemporary politics and news, wanted to create works that expressed concepts like personal beliefs and activism and what they mean within our current political climate. He then came up with the idea of representing them by using diagrams to, essentially, “map” them out.

According to the artist, Precarious Geographies is about the relationship between activism and philosophy. Grenier explained that, since the election of the current American president, people have become more outspoken and committed to their political views. The artist said he believes that by taking an activist stance, a person must “believe in something enough to fight for it.” This idea can present some problems, however, because it assumes a person’s view or belief is absolute. In his life and work, Grenier enjoys questioning the concept of absolute ideas, and so he decided to explore it further.

Upon coming up with this idea, Grenier then asked himself: “How do I, as a painter, visually display [it]?” The artist, who sometimes spends months developing his projects, admitted he liked the idea of land as a starting point for the pieces in Precarious Geographies. He used it to build upon the ideas and concepts in his paintings.

From there, the artist decided to include elements of text and diagrams, as a way to surprise the viewer since diagrams are not usually in conventional paintings. According to Grenier, the use of words in his paintings “restricts the range of interpretations [of a piece], but it also pushes the work in a specific direction. It has some openness, but also some closure.” The exhibition is Grenier’s attempt to physically map out “philosophical and political ambiguities” that exist in the current political climate of the Western world by painting them in an abstract but concrete way.

One of Grenier’s larger works, Going for it, occupies an entire wall of the gallery. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

A piece titled Going for it occupies an entire wall of the gallery. A warm, brick-coloured background gives way to what can only be described as a “stack” of different coloured squares. The bottoms of the squares fade into horizontal lines that stretch across the bottom third of the canvas. Sharp edges and perfect gradients showcase Grenier’s practiced technique and make it hard to believe the pieces are in fact paintings and not graphic art.

The colours Grenier uses are extremely saturated and somewhat unnatural. The artist explained that it sometimes takes him months to develop and mix colours, and although he admitted that nature does influence his work, he wanted to create colours not typically seen in the natural world.

On a wall adjacent to Going for it hangs What We Want / What You Want, one of the more vibrant pieces within the exhibition. A large block of colour sits in the middle of the canvas, and resembles a cross-section of a piece of earth. The top layer of the block is a deep blue with white flecks, emulating a night sky. Lines cut across this layer, diagonally dividing the block into four sections—much like axes on a grid. At the ends of each axis is written—in small, inconspicuous text—the words “what we want” or “what you want.” Since the two axes travel in opposite directions, the piece suggests the two phrases exist in separate spaces. Underneath the blanket of deep blue are layers of bright reds, greens and burgundies. The block is suspended against a background gradient of vibrant yellow and red.

Both Going for it and What We Want / What You Want were created this year. The entire collection of works in this exhibition came together over the past 12 to 18 months. A self-proclaimed thoughtful and meticulous artist, Grenier allows himself ample time to mull ideas over and carefully assemble every piece. The artist, who works out of Montreal and Los Angeles, is excited to share his first solo collaboration with Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran.

Precarious Geographies will be on display until Nov. 11. The gallery is located at 1892 Payette St. and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, or by appointment. Admission is free.

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Creating stunning visuals across disciplines

Professor Francois Morelli prepares to teach a class at Concordia. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

Concordia painting and drawing professor, François Morelli, exhibits his life’s work

Large-scale ink and watercolour drawings adorn the walls of 1700 La Poste, while wire sculptures take over its main floor space. The pieces were crafted by François Morelli, a professor of painting and drawing at Concordia whose work ranges from free drawing and sculpture to performance and ink stamping.

Pieces straight from Morelli’s sketchbook are linked together to create a mural in the upstairs balcony space of the gallery. Morelli’s Belthead project rests in the back room of the gallery. Huge, colourful drawings of tangled belts cover the walls like vines, bringing attention to a sculpture by the entrance, which inspired the drawings.

In a documentary which screens every 10 minutes after the hour in the gallery’s basement, Morelli says: “Do what you do because it is important to do it.” It is a message that will resonate with most people regardless of their involvement in the arts. With his work, Morelli creates a whimsical world where it’s okay to make mistakes. Ink blotches, both large and small, are welcome.

A piece in the Belthead collection. Photo by Chloe Lalonde.

Morelli explained that he often starts drawing with a few random strokes and continues intuitively from there. In most of his work, the viewer is able to see lightly painted lines that could have transformed the piece into something completely different, yet the artist chose not to follow them. His approach is authentic and unfiltered—a process which was likely taught to him over the course of many years.

As a painting and drawing student at Concordia in the 70s, Morelli began doing rubbings of the trees on his street and measuring the distance between them. Rubbing involves placing a sheet of paper on a textured surface and rubbing it with a pencil or another medium, so the textured pattern of the surface transfers onto the paper. According to the artist, his goal was to make a large drawing on a scroll that would interact and engage with what was on the street by including textures, lengths and measurements.

“As I was doing this, the police stopped me, asking me what I was doing. I told them I was making a drawing, making art,” the artist said. “From that point on, I realised that, in doing this, I would be interfacing with people and they are going to be asking me questions.”

Morelli said that over the years, he has been building on the idea of social movement. He explained that, in using public spaces for his art, he takes an anthropological approach to his practice and works with historical sites and the social, political and economic realities surrounding them. Architecture, the sidewalk, people and the flow of people in transit all became involved in the artist’s performance work.

Morelli’s sketches of the Marche Transatlantique sculpture. Photo by Chloe Lalonde.

A sculpture from one of Morelli’s collections, titled Marche Transatlantique, is featured in the exhibition. Marche Transatlantique was the result of a romantic affiliation and a personal invitation. In this performance piece, Morelli walked with the absurd, grotesque sculpture on his back from the Berlin Wall to Philadelphia, where he was invited to participate in an exhibition. This performance was the second of three walks. The first was Migration, which involved a hay sculpture being carried from the United Nations to St-Jean-Port-Joli, Que.

Creating art, teaching art and performance art have a symbiotic relationship in Morelli’s body of work. One cannot exist without the other.

François Morelli’s exhibition will be on display at 1700 La Poste (1700 Notre-Dame St. W.) until Dec. 17. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday to Sunday.

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