Three years ago the white cube began as a list of art happenings in and around Montreal. Last year, the column took a turn into my own art thoughts and experiences. When the pandemic hit, and Lorenza Mezzapelle took over as arts editor, the column ceased. But now that exhibitions are back, so is the white cube. Here’s to hoping they don’t shut down these cultural institutions any time soon *wine glass emoji*.

Happening in and around the white cube this week…

Galleries

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Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery: Concordia LB Building – Bishop Street entrance.
Edith Brunette and François Lemieux, Going to, Making Do, Passing Just the Same. Until March 27.

Galerie Nicolas Robert: 10 King St.
Carl Trahan, La nuit est aussi un soleil and Ghazaleh Avarzamani Particular Good Game for Self Punishment. Until March 13.

McClure Gallery: 350 Victoria Ave.
Marie-Eve Martel (Concordia Alumni), Hétérotrophies. Until Feb. 27

OBORO: 4001 Berri St., #301
Christof Migone, Press Record. Until March 20.

Art Mûr: 5826 St. Hubert St.
Group exhibition for Art Mûr’s 25th anniversary, Terra Nova | Looking at the present and the future. Until April 24.

Bradley Ertaskiran: 3550 Saint-Antoine W.

Marie-Michelle Deschamps, Oasis, and Celia Perrin Sidarous, Flotsam. Until March 13.

Blouin Division: 2020 William St.
Group Exhibition, Quarante. Until Feb. 27

ELLEPHANT: 1201 Saint-Dominique
Group exhibition, Floating Paper. Until April 3.

VOX: 2 Sainte-Catherine E, #401
Sky Hopinka, Dislocation Blues. Until May 29.

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New galleries

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Somewhere Gallery: Visits by appointment. 6830 Ave. du Parc #358. Alternative gallery space set up in an office building, owned and curated by recent Concordia Fine Arts graduate, Katherine Parthimos.

Digital Daydream, Feb. 20-27. Featuring five emerging artists and recent Concordia graduates.
Upcoming VAV Gallery collaboration, yet to be announced, date set for March 17-24.

Gallery Jano Lapin: 3819 Wellington St. Exhibition space and artist studios for rent.

Ribboned Rainbow until March 12. Celebrated creativity during the pandemic, curated by gallery owner, Anne Janody and visual artist/recent Concordia Fine Arts graduate, Jose Garcia.
Upcoming: My Magic Reality. From March 28, featuring over twenty local artists. Curated by Marilyne Bissonnette

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Museums

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Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA): By reservation only.

- Manuel Mathieu, Survivance. Until March 28.
- Yehouda Chaki, Mi Makir. À la recherche des disparus. Until March 14.
- Group exhibition, GRAFIK! Until July 3.
- Riopelle : à la rencontre des territoires nordiques et des cultures autochtones. Until Sept. 12.

Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC): By reservation only.

John Akomfrah, Vertigo Sea. Until April 4.
Recent acquisitions, Des horizons d’attente. Until Sept. 19.
Group exhibition, La machine qui enseignait des airs aux oiseaux. Until April 25.

Canadian Centre for Architecture: By reservation only.

Main galleries: The Things Around Us: 51N4E and Rural Urban Framework. Until Sept. 19.
Octagonal gallery: Eye Camera Window: Takashi Homma on Le Corbusier. Until Aug.15.

McCord Museum: Reservation recommended.

Christian Dior. Until May 2.
Robert Walker, Griffintown – Evolving Montreal. Walking exhibition. Until March 7.

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Warehouse studio hubs and artist-run-centres

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Fonderie Darling: 745 Ottawa St.

In the main hall: Cynthia Girard-Renard Sans toit ni loi: the Cetaceans of the Saint Lawrence.Until April 3.
In the small gallery: Vincent Larouche, Ocelle. Until April 3.

Belgo: 372 Ste. Catherine W

Galerie Hugues Charbonneau – Karen Tam, recent and selected work. March 10 until April 10. #308
Galerie B-312 – Philippe Internoscia, Monument Mou and Mathieu Lévesque, Les isolés. Until March 20. #403
Laroche/Joncas – Carlo Polidoro Lopez (Concordia Alumni), PROCESO. Until March 27. #410
Circa Art Actuel – Group exhibition, Matérialité. Until May 1. #444

*More but potentially out of date information about the many individual galleries within the Belgo building available here. I guess you’ll just have to go and see for yourself!

5445 & 5455 de Gaspé Ave:

- Romeo’s Museum: Murals in the building’s staircase (12 stories)
- Atelier Circulaire : Stella Pace, Passage vers l’humanité II. Until March 27. #105
- Optica: Selected work by Sandra Brewster until April 3. #106
- Diagonale: Leisure, What is the will of love? Until Feb. 27. #110
- Centre Clark: Upcoming presentation of work culminating from Dayna Danger and Moe Clark’s artist residencies. Date to be determined. #114
- TOPO: Workshops and events, in addition to Meandres by Stéphanie Morissette. #608

Never Apart: 7049 St-Urbain

- Group exhibition, Joy As Resistance. Until Feb. 27
- Stina Baudin, Revelations. Until March 27.
- Yannis Davy Guibinga, Boy Wives & Female Husbands + Silicone Sunset & Eclectic Identity + 2050. Until March 27.
- Massimadi and Nigra Iuventa, Ancestors, Can You Read Us? (Dispatches from the Future) + Antarctica. Until March 27.

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Other

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Place Publique, Fonderie Darling: 745 Ottawa St. Until April 11. Everything Merges, Emerges, then Fades Again: Selected works from artists-in-residence at the Fonderie Darling over the course of the pandemic to date.

Cinematheque québécoise: 355 De Maisonneuve E.
Jamais seul. Until April 4. Free entry to view video installation by Stéphane and Philémon Crête.
Catherine Ocelot, une année à la Cinémathèque. Until April 11. Culminating work from Ocelot’s artist residency.
Exhibition: Excursion dans les collections : l’image à la maison. Until May 23.

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Vitrine exhibitions

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La Centrale galerie Powerhouse: 4296 St-Laurent Blvd.
B.G- Osborne, A Thousand Cuts. Until March 21.

Pierre-François Ouellette: 963 Rachel E.
Ed Pien, Somnambulists and Luc Courchesne, Anamorphosis. Until March 13.

Articule: 262 Fairmount W.
tīná gúyáńí (Deer Road), k’ō-dī īyínáts’īdìsh (new agency). Closed Feb. 21. Upcoming programming available here.

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Upcoming Exhibitions and Festivals

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Fondation PHI pour l’art contemporain: 451 & 465 Saint-Jean
Lee Bae, UNION. From Feb. 24 until June 20. By reservation only.

Centre Phi: 315 Saint-Paul W.
Multiple exhibitions and virtual experiences. Reopening in-person on Feb. 24.

Projet Pangée: 1305 Pine Ave. W
Group exhibition, The ideal place is an open field. Feb. 25 until April 3.

Art Souterrain:
The 13th edition of the festival will feature the work of over 30 artists and performers, both online and in-person, from Feb. 20 to April 30. More information here.

Art Matters: More information and updates to come here

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Museum reopenings to normalize art hoe migration patterns, experts say

Montreal museums reopened on Feb. 8 causing art hoes to flock to various museum sites around the city.

In a recent study written on a cluttered Notes app, an art hoe turned Anthropology major states that 90 per cent of indie Tinder dates are taking place at one of these newly opened cultural institutions. However, this student’s advice for securing these Tinder dates means refraining from mentioning one’s art hoe-ism on dating apps — few understand that they’re hoes for the art, and not necessarily the Chad who looks like a wet golden retriever.

Though, let’s be clear that the pilgrimage is not limited to dates; many group chats are buzzing with ideas to make the trek. And thank goodness they’ve got their Doc Martens to keep the snow out!

As with any phenomenon, the question on everyone’s mind is “why?” Through extensive research and perhaps a tiny ounce of introspection, we’ve compiled the most plausible reasons for this pattern.

The first one that comes to mind is the innate desire to wear thrifted clothes in public. This is a sentiment shared by 100 per cent of art hoes, and a need that has been hard to fulfill during the pandemic. Although many a mom jean and turtleneck have been spotted on a walk around the block or a trip to the grocery store, in our pesky climate, jackets tend to overshadow the carefully curated outfit (it is important to note that hoes are sometimes cold despite what pre-famous Cardi B may have told you — she’s clearly never been to Montreal in February). Nonetheless, museums offer coat checks and toasty heating to ensure that the whole ensemble will be on display. Some might argue that that’s the real art anyways.

Another possible explanation for this migration is, as always, the stars. Some believe that the recent Co–Star notification saying to “Open up your body and soul to art” has provoked the art hoes to storm the museums.

Others explain that after cutting quarantine bangs, this population needs a more permanent change in appearance, and hopes to gain inspiration from a Van Gogh or Matisse painting for new ink. Those not interested in tattoos, however, might be searching for a new screensaver for their phone or a spark for their next poem.

Speaking of poems, museums also provide benches for art hoes to sit on and scribble in their notebooks. This is an optimal location to be noticed for the way their quirky earrings clink against their mask as they write. Maybe someone will even ask them what they have in their Fruiterie Mile End tote bag.

Either way, their plants can survive another few hours without being watered and played Phoebe Bridgers, so it definitely can’t hurt to soak in some culture, and perhaps even bring up the single art history elective they took, From Realism to Abstraction in Canadian Art, after noticing the Romantic undertones of a specific tableau.

Or it could be that the museum provides a well-needed escape from the madness we’re experiencing. But hey, what do I know?

Graphic by Chloë Lalonde @ihooqstudio