Tag: exhibition

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Urban artists meet to connect and create

A viewer stands in front of one of Jason Wasserman’s pieces. Photos by Anna Larovaia.

A street art exhibition that brought together Montreal and New York City artists will be on display for an extra month to allow more urban art lovers to admire the collection of works. Hosted by Station 16, a local contemporary art gallery, NYC meets MTL Street Art Pop-Up Gallery was intended to run from Sept. 8 until the end of the month. The exhibition will now be open until Oct. 31.

During the opening, over 20 artists were invited to participate in a live painting session. It was the New York artists who created a new mural for the Station 16 print shop. Andrea Cook, the creator of the Pussy Power series, contributed her design of a reimagined Chanel perfume bottle to the artistic process by inscribing the title of her series onto the bottle.

Andrea Cook’s contribution is part of her series of provocative pieces titled Pussy Power. Photos by Anna Larovaia.

The exhibition showcases a refreshing diversity of work and includes creations by Concordia’s own Laurence Vallières, Whatisadam (WIA) and Jason Wasserman. Wasserman, who graduated from Concordia in 2004 with a degree in fine arts, is now working as an independent illustrator. “Station 16 is involved in this big cross-section of different styles, and they chose the artists exposing at their gallery accordingly,” said Wasserman, who is also a partner of the Station 16 print shop.

A recurring theme that is present in the pieces by Montreal artists within the exhibition is Canadian, specifically Montreal, imagery. With Wasserman’s illustrations of both cliché and underground sectors of the city and Whatisadam’s iconic Maple Sizzurp Drum, Montreal is well represented.

“Montreal is such a big part of my identity,” Wasserman said about his source of inspiration. “I have so much attachment to this city so, for me, it’s not only a natural but also an authentic theme.”

Wasserman described ‘street art’ as an umbrella term used to describe a variety of art, including styles such as sculpting, stencil graffiti and murals, all which can be found at the NYC meets MTL Street Art Pop-Up Gallery.

By featuring the work of artists from two separate cities, the exhibition successfully merges inter-city street art communities. “Working with other artists is great for learning but also for networking,” Wasserman said, adding that he now follows some of the New York artists on Instagram. “It’s important for independent contractors to network and help one another.”

This is a lesson Wasserman was taught during his time at Concordia. “I spent a lot of time late at night in Concordia’s art studio. I was in my own bubble. The work I created there was sometimes unsatisfying, and I realized it was because I was self-exploring through work that was meant to be created for others to relate to and gain from,” he said.

The gallery is not only a chance for art enthusiasts to see creations that cross international borders, but according to Wasserman, it is also an opportunity for artists such as himself to share and learn from one another.

NYC meets MTL Street Art Pop-Up Gallery will be on display until Oct. 31 at Station 16 Gallery. The gallery is open Tuesday to Thursday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. and on Friday until 5 p.m. Private viewings can also be arranged.

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Miss Chief Eagle Testickle goes to Europe

The Human Zoo (2015). Still from video. Photos courtesy of Pierre-François Ouellet art contemporain.

Kent Monkman’s work is both beautiful and confrontational. Of mixed Canadian and Cree ancestry, the artist uses painting, video and performance art to help First Peoples ‘discover’ Europe as colonizers ‘discovered’ their land.

The Pierre-François Ouellet art contemporain (PFOAC) gallery exhibits four of Monkman’s video-paintings in The Human Zoo, where Monkman brings his drag queen alter-ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, to Rome, Athens and Berlin.

The Human Zoo imposes Miss Chief Eagle Testickle onto pre-existing European landscapes, including View of the Colonnade by C.W. Eckersberg (1813-16) and The Erechtheion on the Acropolis by Lancelot-Theodore Turpin de Crisse (1805). Monkman uses Miss Chief to embody two-spirit identities among First Peoples, constructing her background as an artist and performer.

The Immoral Woman (2015). Still from video. Photos courtesy of Pierre-François Ouellet art contemporain.

In a description of the exhibition, the PFOAC explained “since the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, Indigenous peoples traveled to Europe as ambassadors for their own people, captives, performers and as specimens for human zoos.”

The Immoral Woman (2015), which is set in Rome, presents seduction within binary and non-binary gender identity. Miss Chief flirts with a young cardinal while studying the Christian passage from John 8:3-11: “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.”

In this passage, Jesus is reminded of the punishment for adultery under the law of Moses, which states that women caught committing adultery will be stoned to death. When a group of accusing scribes and Pharisees heard Jesus’ words, they left the scene one by one. None of the accusers were without sin. When it was finally only Jesus and the adulteress who remained, he said: “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”

In a piece set in Athens, Miss Chief paints a young, toned man, while four others drink wine in front of the Acropolis in Athens. PFOAC described this video-painting, titled The Symposium, as “Miss Chief’s homage to the classical artistic, aesthetic and philosophical traditions of ancient Greece.”

In Berlin, Miss Chief performs for her rival, George Catlin, who intends to paint her. Catlin was a 19th century American painter whose focus was on portraits of First Peoples or “Indians” living in the United States. The Human Zoo depicts Miss Chief’s performance anxiety and fear of being exhibited in Catlin’s pop-up gallery in the streets of Berlin behind Freiheit castle.

In all of his work, Monkman put an emphasis on the scarcity of opportunities available for Indigenous peoples and the injustice and inequalities they face everyday.

The exhibition will be open Wednesday to Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain (963 Rachel St. E.) until Nov. 4.

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L’OFFRE illustrates the art of gift giving

To create his piece, artist Phil Collins asked people to donate their undeveloped film, which he then developed himself. Photo courtesy of Shady Lane Productions, Berlin and Tonya Bonakdar Gallery, NY.

Curator Cheryl Sim speaks about the rewarding process of putting a large exhibition together

Giving a gift to a loved one can bring extreme joy to oneself, but there are also mixed emotions of anxiety for the receiver who might not know what to give back.

As part of its 10th anniversary celebration, DHC/ART (The Foundation for Contemporary Art) is exploring the complex concept of gift exchange in its exhibition, L’OFFRE. The exhibition is a culmination of a variety of works by artists from around the world.

As a curator, Cheryl Sim wanted to create a show which would honour DHC/ART’s contribution to Montreal’s cultural landscape. She has been working at DHC/ART for 10 years and has had the privilege of seeing the foundation grow. When she was tasked with curating the exhibition, Sim knew exactly how to approach the job.

“Artists have forever been interested in gift exchange and the offer of their labour to the service of art-making, which is not necessarily going to give you a lot of financial return,” Sim said. “Many artists work in their spare time, they give their work away for free or they show it for free. DHC/ART as a foundation itself represents a gift to the city of Montreal.”

Sim spoke about Phil Collins, who created a collaborative project called Free FotoLab for L’OFFRE. He put out a public call in Eastern Europe, asking people to give him their undeveloped rolls of 35 mm film in exchange for the right to develop the photos of his choosing.

“He is interested in how you create compassion and how do you show empathy. In so much of his work, he is looking at a relationship between himself and the people he needs to rely on to show his work,” Sim said.

The photos Collins developed include both special and everyday moments, like people attending birthday parties, going to the beach and napping. There are a total of 80 slides in the piece.

Lee Mingwei, a Taiwanese artist, has two pieces in the exhibition: Money for Art (1994-2010) and Sonic Blossom (2013). Sonic Blossom was inspired by the time spent with his mother when she was recovering from surgery. This piece is focused on the transformative and healing power of song. On Saturdays and Sundays, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the foundation, two singers will perform for visitors who will sit in a chair and have one of five Franz Schubert’s artistic songs (known as lieders) sung to them. Sonic Blossom is presented in collaboration with faculty and performers from Concordia’s music department.

DHC/ART is a non-profit organization founded in 2007. According to Sim, the founder, Phoebe Greenberg, had a dream to make art accessible to the public by hosting large-scale art exhibitions with free general admission. DHC/ART’s exhibitions are unique because they present mostly international artists while the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has a mandate to present only Canadian and Quebec artists. People do not have to travel to Paris or Berlin, for example, to see their favourite renowned international artists.

Sim said one of the main challenges in curating such a large exhibition is choosing a nice mix of media and trying to consolidate large works of art which fit with the theme within the space. The curator explained that the most rewarding aspect is seeing the project materialize after a long process of working alongside the technical department and the coordinators.

The ultimate reward for her, however, will be seeing the public’s reaction to these beautiful works. Montreal-based artists Dean Baldwin and Karen Kraven have created a commission-based installation project specifically for the public reception on the evening of Oct. 4.

The opening reception for L’OFFRE will be held on Oct. 4 from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m at DHC/ART, at 451 St-Jean St. The exhibition will officially be on display from Oct. 5 to March 11, 2018.

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Changing the way we see Indigenous women

The work of Dayna Danger and Émilie Monnet is featured in a new exhibition highlighting Indigenous strength and identity. Photos by Kirubel Mehari.

Concordia grad and fellow artist combine forces to empower each other and viewers

Artist Émilie Monnet and recent Concordia MFA graduate Dayna Danger were asked to exhibit their work as part of the OBORO art centre’s year-long dedication to Indigenous artists and thinkers in response to the Canada 150 celebrations.

In collaboration with five women from the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal, the artists took the opportunity to put together a month-long exhibition centred around the empowerment of Indigenous women.

OBORO’s website states Monnet and Danger’s project, Sanctuary, “explores how one can create a feeling of sanctuary in one’s self.” It encourages Indigenous women to understand that their own bodies and ancestry can provide the refuge that their colonized land cannot. The small exhibition at OBORO is just one element of the centre’s ongoing project. This single-room exhibition consists of both photographic and audio pieces, and explores stars and their significance in all Indigenous cultures.

The photography aspect of the exhibition features portraits of the five Indigenous women from the shelter—Brenda Lee Marcoux, Gail Golder, Jenna Guanish, Violet Rose Quinney and Crystal Star Einish—embodying empowered alter-egos, or “star selves.” Their star selves were discovered through workshops with the artists and other collaborators, and included links to their ancestors. For example, in her portrait, Quinney chose to dress as her grandfather.

However, Monnet and Danger noted that the empowered personas the women chose were not far off from who they really are. “It was something that we didn’t really expect,” Danger said. “It was really beautiful.”

The portraits are laminated onto copper “shields,” because some Indigenous cultures believe the metal has healing properties. These shields hang from the ceiling in an inwards-facing circle, creating a powerful space that one has to physically enter in order to view the work.

A traditional drum is mounted to a wall and lit from behind, giving the appearance of the moon. Photos by Kirubel Mehari.

On the wall to the right of the entrance hangs a hand drum, which is lit from behind. It casts a beam of light across the room onto the portraits, specifically onto the one of a woman holding a similar drum. “The drum lit up could be a reference to the moon,” Danger said.

The exhibition’s audio component consists of two parts: an ambient noise which fills the intimate, dark gallery space, and a voice recording played on headphones made available next to the hanging shields.

The ambient noise is made up of an Indigenous song sung by the artists as well as bits of conversation with the collaborators. The recording played through the headphones, is a dialogue from the workshops leading up to the exhibition, as well as intimate monologues that each woman wrote for their created alter-ego.

The atmosphere of the gallery space used for the exhibition aids in conveying the ideas of stars and restfulness. Upon entering the room, viewers feel a sense of sanctuary, as they are easily immersed in the exhibition through the blanket of darkness and placement of the pieces. The sound aspect of the installation helps contribute to the feeling of calm and comfort viewers experience. Additionally, the darkness of the room gives the few lit objects more visibility and significance, just as stars light up a pitch-black night sky.

According to Danger, the aim of this project was to guide Indigenous women in “seeing themselves in a positive and empowering way.” She added that she also hopes the public, in seeing the exhibition, would echo that vision.

“Even somebody who isn’t Indigenous is going to come in there and find some resonance with what is being said,” she said.

Wishes / Souhaits is on display until Oct. 21 at the OBORO gallery space at 4001 Berri St. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information on OBORO’s year of Indigenous programming and upcoming exhibitions, check out their website.

A previous version of this article misquoted Dayna Danger with regards to the focus and aim of most Indigenous art. The Concordian apologizes for the error.

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Tackling social issues from bud to bloom

Evangelos Michelis’ first solo exhibition explores artistic liberation while engaging in community aesthetics. Photos by Alex Hutchins.

At the start of a journey, BLOOM engages artistic liberation within a social community

This summer, artist Evangelos Michelis began a new journey by steering away from his usual painting techniques. He described BLOOM, his first solo exhibition, as “fun, free and expressive.”

Michelis’ exhibition experiments with colour and form, using techniques that resonated with him the most from his time in art school. Having graduated from Concordia’s BFA studio arts program in 2016, Michelis said he is still adjusting to life as a working artist.

A vital aspect of Michelis’ creative process is interacting with other painters and being exposed to a variety of creative practices. Michelis said Concordia’s fine arts program had a strong sense of community. Therefore, going from large, shared studios to a private one was a big challenge for him.

The change in environment prompted the artist to experiment with different styles. He decided to branch out from his usual focus on contemporary social issues. BLOOM is a body of work that includes the personal, emotional and aesthetic experiences of its viewers, as opposed to being an illustration of social problems.

Rabbit Hole, shown here, was the first piece Michelis created for BLOOM. Photos by Alex Hutchins.

Many of the artist’s early works depict social issues surrounding capitalism, from the consumption of technology (Screen, 2016) to the labourer’s experience in the workplace (Love Thy Labour, 2015). Setting the contemporary narratives of his paintings in familiar scenes such as in supermarkets, bars and restaurants, Michelis’ previous work speaks truth to all who view it.

The pieces in BLOOM are a response to a long winter and are heavily influenced by a residency he did at a studio in Detroit last spring. “When I got there, I had such a clear idea of how I was going to work, what I was going to work on and why,” the artist said. After returning to Montreal a month later though, Michelis said he knew he needed a “pause.”

With summer around the corner, Michelis jumped at the opportunity to explore a new style. Free from the academic restrictions of university, each painting in BLOOM came naturally to Michelis, who was inspired by the background foliage in one of his older pieces, titled Invasion (2014).

In Rabbit Hole (2017), the first piece he completed for BLOOM, Michelis experimented deliberately with complementary colours. The contrast between the deep cadmium red and rich forest green provides a vibrant intensity, a visual technique which kicked off Michelis’ inspiration for this body of work.

BLOOM  is promoted by Feat Management, a three-month-old initiative dedicated to supporting emerging artists and showcasing unseen work. “Our aim is to help these artists flourish and attain boundless feats,” according to founders Rafaёl and Max Hart Barnwell.

The Hart Barnwells are both Concordia graduates—Rafaël from communications and Max from photography—and friends of Michelis’. The trio worked together to organize BLOOM, appropriately titled to represent a blossoming of both Feat Management’s initiative and Michelis’ new approach to his work.

BLOOM’s vernissage will take place on Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. The exhibition will be open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. everyday until Oct. 2 at the MainLine Gallery. Find Feat Management online and on Instagram @feat.mgmt.

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New exhibition occupies indoor and outdoor space

Works by Corina Kennedy, Adrian Norvid, Erin Weisgerber, Andrew Forster and Erín Moure make up the FOFA Gallery’s newest collection, La Rentrée. Photo by Kirubel Mehari.

Experience four distinct installations in the FOFA Gallery’s La Rentrée

Like reading through someone’s journal or overlapping streams of thought, the Faculty of Fine Arts (FOFA) Gallery welcomes students back to school with La Rentrée, featuring the work of four Concordia artists and a local poet in four distinct installations.

Corina Kennedy, a graduate of Concordia’s studio arts program, contributed her piece, titled Tender for All. It features carved characters that mimic the way lettering is traditionally carved into the marble walls of old-fashioned banks. The artist explores “limited, disjointed and repetitive language” in an imitation of the way debt collectors communicate with their clients. Kennedy’s insulation foam installation is massive, occupying the entirety of  the York Corridor Vitrine, by the entrance of the gallery.

After having shown Tender for All in a studio space in New York, Kennedy found that tailoring the insulation foam to fit the York Corridor Vitrine was a new challenge. “The sheer length and foot traffic around it is gratifying enough,” Kennedy said. “But seeing it behind that glass is really delighting [to] me because insulation foam is something that is supposed to get hidden behind a wall. So the glass is just the opposite of that.”

Since graduating in 2007, Kennedy has accumulated her share of student debt, so she wanted to express the stress associated with that. She added that the struggles of “many viewers […] with student debt” may be reflected in this work. The artist imagined passersby will only stop at her piece for a moment before moving on, because so many people put off confronting their debt.

Inside the gallery, Concordia painting and drawing professor Adrian Norvid’s collection of drawings and paper sculptures dominate the space. Sprawled across the walls, The Bejesus explores Norvid’s thought process during his creative endeavours in a crude, comical way. His other piece, The Black Bumhole Opera is at the centre of the installation, and explores the “dirty” and “grimey” culture surrounding heavy metal music.

In a separate room from Norvid’s display, Erin Weisgerber’s piece, Minerva’s Owl, explores a variety of film processes. By capturing New York’s Kodak tower through three different types of film, the Concordia graduate intended to show her viewers a raw, playful approach to cinematography. One example of this is Weisgerber’s decision to keep all glitches with the camera and film in the piece. The film loops through cycles of day and night, which are projected onto a wall. The space between the projector and the wall is divided by three mesh screens, enabling the viewer to walk between them and experience the different film techniques to interpret the piece.

Outside the gallery and spanning the facade of the Engineering and Visual Arts (EV) building is Andrew Forster, a part-time studio arts teacher, and Erín Moure’s contribution. Paraguayan Sea presents an excerpt of Brazilian writer Wilson Bueno’s book of the same name. The large, yellow banner of text stretches across the outside of the building, catching the viewer’s eye as they walk past.

Andrew Forster and Erín Moure’s contribution to the exhibition is called Paraguayan Sea (pictured here). Photos by Kirubel Mehari.

Bueno’s original text was written in three languages: Portuguese, Spanish and Guaraní. Moure, a local poet and translator, incorporated the original Guaraní text into the piece and translated the Portuguese and Spanish parts into English and French. By doing so, not only did Moure make this beautiful text available for English and French speakers, but she also emphasized the diverse cultures within Montreal.

The creative process behind the project was twofold; Moure provided the translation of the text while Forster designed the final product. In his colleague’s words, Forster became “intrigued by the text and by the nature of a polylingual text as ‘skin.’” Forster then took this idea and decided to bring it to the public by “laminating it to architecture.”

Paraguayan Sea interrupts the noisy advertisements on Ste-Catherine Street and explores public speaking, surface, depth and the utility of art in a public space. The text itself has been described by the artists as “a murmur heard in the streets of a city at all times.” The translated version of Paraguayan Sea has been published and will be available for purchase at the FOFA Gallery on Nov. 9 during a discussion panel of the artists’ work. Both Forster and Moure will be present at the event.

The indoor exhibitions at the FOFA Gallery are open Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Oct. 20. Paraguayan Sea is open 24 hours and will be up until Dec. 8. Admission is free.

Feature photo by Kirubel Mehari

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Student artists bring playful humour to life

Hea Kim's work is influenced by the "colourful and saturated city" of South Korea, where she spent her childhood and adolescence. Photo By Alex Hutchins.

What could be expected of an event that is the result of a collaboration between three well-established forces within Montreal’s art community? A visit to the VAV Gallery between Sept. 11 and 15 will provide the answer.

POP Montreal, the Art Matters Festival and the VAV Gallery have come together to create POP Matters at the VAV, a playful exhibition showcasing the work of seven Concordia artists. Pieces by Ben Compton, Mel Arsenault, Hea Kim, Ayse Gauthier, Paule Gilbert, Sabrina Maisonneuve and Lucas LaRochelle will fill the gallery to collectively create a fun and lively atmosphere.

Ben Compton, pictured here, will be performing his piece at the exhibition’s vernissage on Sept. 14. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

“POP Montreal is a big organization that’s really made a name for itself and has a reputation in the city,” said Mattia Zylak, the exhibitions coordinator of the Art Matters Festival. “It’s great to be able to get students and student work associated with that.”

At the beginning of the summer, the three organizations extended a call to artists who had previously shown their work in either last year’s Art Matters Festival or at the VAV Gallery during the 2016-17 school year. POP Montreal approached Art Matters and the VAV with the themes of DIY, neo-pop and humour, which elicited varying responses from the artists involved.

Compton, one of Concordia’s intermedia students, said he found that the exhibition’s themes were ideas he “worked with a lot in [his] own artistic practice.” By recontextualizing everyday objects and experiences through multimedia performances, Compton said he aims to give the audience a new perspective and bring forth new ideas. He identified the exhibition’s theme of humour as relating to his work quite specifically, because humour is often attached to experiences of everyday life. His live performance piece “explores the theme of waking up.” Compton explained that his piece includes him making live music and performing to the music, while filming his performance and projecting it onto a wall. He will be performing at the exhibition’s vernissage on Sept. 14.

Arsenault and her series of sculptural pieces were also selected by the small jury of the event. Constructed out of papier-mâché, Arsenault’s pieces are made to resemble rocks of different shapes and sizes. The painting and drawing student explained she has always been interested in geology and wanted to create a series that would give life to rocks, which are usually seen as passive, dormant objects. Each papier-mâché piece has been paired with sections of written dialogue, which are placed on the wall behind the sculptures. Arsenault explained that she wanted to convey the idea that the rocks are communicating with each other. “With this project, I’m [tapping] into relationships, social differences,” Arsenault said. “The fact that the protagonists are rocks and not people, I guess it’s easier to get into the dialogue and the story behind it. They’re neutral protagonists, and they can talk about anything.”

Kim, a part-time fibres and material practices student, contributed her whimsical, intricately constructed sculptures to the exhibition. Kim uses a variety of pastel-coloured craft materials, such as plastic drinking straws, to create intriguing and playful displays. The artist, who grew up in South Korea, described her pieces as “friendly and nostalgic.”

Mel Arsenault contributed her series of papier-mâché sculptures which are made to resemble various types of rocks. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

She explained that she wanted to create her own version of a shrine, much like the ones in Buddhist temples she visited as a child. Kim borrows traditional Asian symbols like the Buddha, and constructs them out of unconventional media, thereby presenting them in a new context. The result is a unique juxtaposition that lends itself perfectly to the exhibition’s themes of humour and DIY.

Gauthier, a studio arts student and print media major, interpreted the theme of playfulness and applied it to her work using grids. Gauthier’s piece is a series of printed images, which all together form one expansive grid. The artist explained that she has conducted extensive research on the topic of grids, and chose to explore their versatility by constructing her own, using thread. She found that the finished piece fit quite well with the DIY theme POP Montreal proposed, because her piece is accessible to everyone. “In theory, it’s endless and anyone could repeat it,” Gauthier said. “The grid is a very rigid form, but it’s [also] really flexible. You can be very playful in it.”

POP Matters at the VAV will be on display at the VAV Gallery from Sept. 11 to 15. The vernissage will take place on Sept. 14 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Entry is free. The gallery is located in the VA building, at 1395 Réné-Lévesque Blvd. W.

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Playing with reality and the human form in CARNATIONS

New exhibition at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery showcases the digital surreality of Philippe Hamelin’s artwork. Photos by Kirubel Mehari.

Concordia alumnus uses organic forms and human shapes in new digital art display

When viewing a piece of art in a gallery space, the audience is immediately confronted with the need to interact and respond to it. This interaction occurs quite naturally and encourages the viewer to seek their ownconclusions and meanings about the piece.

“You are just in front of something, immersed in something,” said Michèle Thériault, the director of the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery and the curator of its current exhibition, CARNATIONS. She contrasted the gallery experience with that of watching a movie, which takes the viewer on a narrative journey. In a gallery space, on the other hand, the viewer is more removed from the artwork itself and is left to make sense of it on their own.

“Here, there is always that distance […] you are aware it’s an artwork, and there’s that strangeness because it doesn’t have that narrative of a film with a beginning and an end. So, it leaves it suspended […] it makes you reflect on what’s happening, what you feel or what you can’t pinpoint.”

CARNATIONS, which will be on display until Oct. 21, features the work of Concordia alumnus Philippe Hamelin. Hamelin, who holds an MFA in fine arts, creates intriguing and bizarre digital art pieces that place human and natural forms in a new context.

“The forms are kind of organic-like and suggest life,” Thériault said. “It creates this kind of emotion in you or sentiment or feeling. Something that is familiar, but at the same time, is really strange.”

As the viewer enters the gallery, they are immediately greeted by perhaps the most striking piece of the entire exhibition, Les Amis (à l’infiniti). It is projected onto the largest section of wall—its neon colours jumping out from the gallery’s darkened enclosure. A repetitive beat plays over the projection, echoing a classic dance rhythm but could also be described as an upbeat pulse. The looped animation depicts a group of people moving in a way that could best be described as a form of “dance.” They twitch, sway and convulse in ways that are unnatural for a human body, yet the bodies are unquestionably human.

Other pieces that evoke a similar feeling of strange surreality are those that make up the series called Vivariums. They are displayed in a small room off of the main space, demanding their own attention. The series consists of four pieces, each displayed on small screens about the size of a computer. One, Thériault explained, is reminiscent of the birthing process. A small white shape stretches and shifts, as if containing something living. The animation is about 45 minutes long, showing the shape as it gradually “gives birth” to a worm-like creature.

A second 45-minute animation loop mimics an animal moulting, a process during which they shed dead skin to reveal a new layer underneath. A white object resembling a large snail shell slowly gives way to show a smaller, shimmering seed-like shape sitting inside. The slow progression of this evolution requires the viewer to observe its phases with prolonged attention. Since most audience members don’t watch one piece for too long, they only end up glimpsing a section of this process. This is an example of the level of audience-to-piece interaction that is necessary to fully understand Hamelin’s work.

One of the pieces in Hamelin’s series titled Scène 2 (découpage). Photos by Kirubel Mehari.

A third room within the gallery hosts two pieces that, together, are titled Scène 2 (découpage). A gentle loop of classical music plays over the speaker system, setting a tranquil and relaxed mood. On one wall, an animation of what appears to be a pile of meat cubes sitting on top of a grass-like surface plays. The viewer watches as the camera pans around the pile, zooming closer and then farther away. The exhibition’s booklet, which contains an essay written by Thériault, once again mentions the strange allure Hamelin’s pieces evoke: “To experience Scène 2 is to be propelled into a series of spaces with no possible common ground.”

CARNATIONS includes eight pieces of Hamelin’s work, which are accompanied by various sound recordings that change as the viewer moves from room to room. Apart from the projections and animated screens, the gallery is darkened which, when paired with the musical accompaniments, creates a fully immersive experience.

The exhibition will be on display until Oct. 21 at the Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery. Admission is free.

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Studio arts department hosts INTERIM end-of-year exhibition

Hundreds of students have their works on display at INTERIM, the year-end exhibition for Concordia studio arts students. Photo by Ana Hernandez.

An extensive collection of works takes the viewer on an exciting visual journey

Held in the historical building formerly known as L’École des beaux-arts de Montréal (EBAM), this year’s Concordia studio arts department end-of-year exhibition is extensive and multifaceted.

The exhibition, known as INTERIM, is made up of over 100 contributions by Concordia studio arts students. The pieces range from paintings and sculptures to performances and multimedia installations. The exhibition spans a total of four floors, utilizing all the space available, taking the viewer on an exciting visual journey.

Immediately upon entering the building, the viewer is greeted by a variety of ceramic and textile pieces that line the foyer. The first floor branches off into two main areas—one of which is large and open, the other giving way to a few smaller rooms.

One of the smaller spaces on the first floor hosts an installation by Nix Burox. All four walls are lined with pieces of paper, fabric and other textile materials. Many have grids and what seems to be maps either printed or drawn on them. The installation, titled Mapping Failure, includes a desk against one wall, which is also covered in paper and grids. Scribbled on the walls and pieces of paper are phrases, including, “It would be naive to expect anything to turn out exactly how you planned it to.” In contrast to these pieces of the installation that appear to be works in progress, Burox also displays larger pieces which were undoubtedly labour intensive and thoughtfully planned out. One is comprised of hundreds of small, paper-like circles with various patterns and colours printed on them, arranged and stapled together to create an aesthetically pleasing mass. The entire collection illustrates the creative process of an idea, as opposed to a final product.

Photo by Ana Hernandez.

After climbing the staircase and passing through a few hallways, the viewer arrives at Rihab Essayh’s contribution, Jardin Automate. In a rather small room, Essayh created a synthetic garden out of mylar, coroplast and animated projections. Artificial material is cut into leaves and sheets which hang from the ceiling and cover the walls. A projection of a naked woman walks across them. The illuminated figure moves slowly, occasionally bending down to touch the ground or reach toward the sky. Soothing music plays over a sound system—it is serene and fabricates a feeling of being in nature. According to the artist’s statement, the installation “reflects an emphasis on technological digital obsession and consumption: an analog rendering on virtual space.”

The third floor is equally divided into large and small rooms. Marie-Pier Favreau-Chalifour’s piece lines an entire wall of one of the larger rooms, and commands the attention of everyone who enters. From a distance, the piece, titled Looking for Dust, appears to be a simple graphite drawing with sweeping shapes and yellow accents. Upon closer inspection, however, the viewer discovers intricate details. Clusters of tiny holes become visible, small numbers cover the piece and ascend into the thousands, and carefully placed layers of translucent paper create texture and dimension.

The fourth and final floor of the exhibition features a wide variety of pieces, some sculptural and some multimedia. The largest room is occupied by a collection of graphic art and video clips, which are projected onto one wall. A three-minute video clip by Ben Compton displays a snow-lined river carrying a white egg downstream. The video is made up of multiple scenes, each featuring the same section of the river, yet the egg travels through the water slightly differently each time. This subtle change entertains the viewer for the duration of the clip. The soft and tranquil scenery generates a feeling of calmness.

The INTERIM exhibition runs until April 16, and is open from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The event is located at 3450 Saint Urbain St. More information, including a full list of the artists involved, can be found on the event’s Facebook page. Admission is free.

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Arts

The Wild Characters of Alana Barrell’s art

New exhibition gives viewers a peek into the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic

On a wet and windy night in Montreal, a lively gang of 60 have come to bathe themselves in the effervescence of Alana Barrell’s artistic imagination. Upon stepping into her vernissage at the Centre d’Apprentissage Parallèle (CAP) gallery, the viewer is greeted by the rolling-eyed stares of Une Girafe, Un Rhino and Leopard, large multi-coloured paintings which are heartening and slightly disturbing. They act as ideal introductions into Barrell’s world of Wild Characters.

Barrell was diagnosed with a severe form of paranoid schizophrenia at the age of 15. Her sense of self is poignantly displayed in a series of self-portraits which evolve in a way that represents her journey through her treatment and therapy. Each piece focuses on one segment of her life living with Schizophrenia. It begins with her treatment in the Early Psychosis and Schizophrenia Spectrum Program at the McGill University Health Centre, followed by her experiences at the Atelier D’Artisan du Centre-Ville and the CAP program, which ended in her presenting her first solo exhibition.

In the first piece, Autoportrait, the artist presents her face as half-masked, half-uncovered, with the whole visage rendered in a very raw and indistinct style. The second piece, a painting, titled Moi, retains the image of the facial split in terms of colour, but presents a more natural expression with the mouth fixed intently in steely confidence, and the eyebrows arched with a certain wry humour. An ink composition, beautifully and confidently executed, stares softly at the viewer with a hand supporting an almost symmetrical face, hair cascading unfettered.

In total, there were roughly 50 pieces included in the exhibition. Finally, in Woman, an ink composition, it’s the viewer who becomes unsettled, as their voyeuristic experience is shattered and the self-possessed artist stares intently into their minds.

The artist herself, clad in an indigo dress and sporting bright pink lipstick, seemed effortlessly at home with her vibrant pieces and unselfconsciously posed for photographs with the press and public alike. Barrell described herself as both “excited” and “proud” to display her first solo exhibition, but was loath to elaborate on more analytical questions regarding her artistic process.

Yvon Lamy, an art therapist at CAP, described such reservation on Barell’s part as typical of an artist who, when her peers were attempting to dissect the underlying significance of her works, would simply say: “I just did it because it was beautiful.”

Barrell was born in South Africa in 1983, and grew up there as well as in Brunei, Ethiopia, Singapore and Canada. The influence of Ethiopian art is particularly apparent in her use of vibrant colours, depictions of religious relics and rendering of large, almond-shaped eyes. The pieces could be described as naïve art, as Barrell received no formal training, relying instead on her raw artistic talent. This makes for a unique style and a powerful artistic identity which remains in the mind long after leaving the exhibition.

Above all else, Wild Characters is a passionate, refreshing and totally unpretentious collection which excites the viewer and leaves the public hungry to see more from this evolving artist. The show runs at CAP gallery, 4865 Saint-Laurent Street, until March 31.

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Arts

Epigram(me): Putting yourself on the map

Concordia artist bends space by using old maps as a medium

Trusting in her artistic instinct, when Audrey “Em” Meubus came across a collection of Montreal maps from the 1980s, she knew she had to do something with them.

“I’ve always liked maps for what they represent—it’s finding yourself, and it’s the comforting feelings they evoke,” she said.

This discovery was the beginning of a project culminating in Epigram(me), Meubus’ first solo exhibition as an illustrator.

Meubus, who completed her BFA in film animation at Concordia in 2013, has worked on stop-motion animation sets for works such as The Little Prince. For her latest project, Meubus drew upon her skills as a writer, illustrator and animator to superimpose her striking, emblematic drawings on carefully-selected and significant sections of the city maps.

These works drew strong positive responses from Meubus’ friends and family.

“I would have groups of people forming around these maps, and I knew I was onto something… people were connecting [with them],” she said.

The strength of Meubus’ work comes from their symbolic meaning. Viewing an illustration superimposed over a map of a familiar area can generate strong personal responses connected to memory and belonging. The dark, graphic lines of Meubus’ illustrations contrast starkly with the sun-faded maps, making for an interesting aesthetic and contrast, engaging both the mind and emotions.

After having experimented with maps as a medium, the next step was teaming up with Studio Beluga, a Montreal-based non-profit organization run by a collective of artists, art professionals and curators. According to their website, the studio was established with the goal of facilitating artistic practices and forming a creative community.

“I know a lot of musicians and people from the theatre world, and that’s how I first came upon Studio Beluga,” she said. “I approached them, time went by until they eventually told me they had a space and I jumped on it.”

The final ingredient in the realization of Meubus’ project was the imposition of a strict two-week time limit on her creative process, in which she created the six pieces that were part of her exhibition.

“I do my best work on a deadline. I have all these ideas and just have to get them out of my head as fast as possible,” she said. “If I hit a wall with one of them, I can just put it aside and work on another one. This speedy and concentrated method allows me to not get bored with what I’m doing.”

Although her backdrops and drawings have particular personal significance, Meubus said she wants the viewer to find their own personal meaning in her work—hence the addition of (me) to Epigram. The name highlights her desire to spark the memory and imagination of the viewer in their own unique and distinctive fashion. In this way, the audience can rediscover something of themselves in these works, between Meubus’ illustrations and the locations the maps portray.

The exhibition runs at Théâtre Sainte-Catherine until April 15.

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Arts

Grad intersects art and design at the MMFA

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Concordia alumnus tests assumptions about art in Impressions residency

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) boasts a varied collection, with pieces originating from around the world. Comprised of paintings, reliefs, sculptures and everything in between, the MMFA features a vast treasure trove of artistically and culturally-significant artefacts.

Like most museums, the MMFA’s collection makes assumptions about what art is and isn’t based on Western perspectives and definitions of “good” art. These assumptions are exactly what Ari Bayuaji—the MMFA’s new Impressions artist in residence—wants to challenge.

“We live in a very interesting and dynamic time at the moment,” said Bayuaji. “Art has been a great archive that reflects different times and changes in the history of human beings. [Challenging assumptions in art] is very important because our world is always changing.”

Bayuaji was a product and interior designer in Bali, Indonesia, before he came to Montreal to pursue a bachelor’s degree in fine arts at Concordia in 2005. He said he is interested in the relationship between art and design, and uses ready-made objects—manufactured items modified by the artist—to question assumptions about art.

His works, featuring painted pieces of driftwood, painted stone statues and countless painted wooden pieces dangling from hidden wire, aim to blur the line between noble, fine arts and everyday objects. He said he wants to accomplish the same thing at the MMFA.

While a student at Concordia, Bayuaji frequently made use of ready-made objects for his assignments.

“I found that blank paper or plain white canvas was too boring to work on. When I moved from Indonesia to Canada in 2005, I brought with me many of old objects I collected when I was younger,” Bayuaji said. “For my studio classes, I could paint or draw over solid teak wood panels, old photographic works I did years before, and make sculptures by cutting and pasting them together. As an art student, it was a good way for me to deal with my expenses and also to be different compared to other fellow students.”

The MMFA’s Impressions residency, supported by the Conseil des arts de Montréal, is an opportunity to showcase emerging artists from a cultural community, visible minority or aboriginal community. The goal of this residency is for an artist to produce a work inspired by the MMFA’s vast collection of 42,000 items—of which only 4,500 are on display. Bayuaji will be given six weeks to research and study the museum’s collection—the largest in Canada—and produce an original perspective piece to be displayed in an exhibition in the mezzanine of the Maison du Conseil des arts de Montréal.

“I would like to create some artworks using old objects that either might never have been found by Western museum curators, or might not be of significant importance or uniqueness to warrant a place at the museum,” said Bayuaji, who said he believes that design and art work together, rather than apart.

“I think that design should be very basic knowledge in the study of art history. When we think about the ancient Greeks and Romans, artefacts from that period were something that shaped their culture and traditions,” said Bayuaji. “The ancient Greek art at that time was mostly created or designed for daily life or religious purposes. I don’t think we can separate art from design.”

Through his work, Bayuaji hopes to challenge the Western lens through which we often look at art and by which collections such as that of the MMFA are typically organized.

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