Today, Yesterday and Forever | Hold on tight, Diane Dufresne is coming!

These days, Arsenal is immersing us in the creative universe of Quebec diva Diane Dufresne. An exhibition curated by her partner of the last 30 years, Richard Langevin, who looks back on the singer’s fabulous career, through her music, of course, her shows, which she staged, but also her stage costumes, her record covers and even her paintings.

“When I write something, I always write it for the audience,” Diane Dufresne tells us about the shows she has designed and directed. “I dream of what the world could dream of and what it would like to see. I always put myself in the audience’s shoes; I have always worked for them.”

Diane Dufresne will speak regularly about this almost sacred bond that she has maintained with her public for almost 60 years during the visit to the exhibition dedicated to her.

“I’m not sociable, I don’t go out much, but when I do go out, I think about the world. And the public knows that,” the artist, who will celebrate his 80th birthday on September 30, tells us. “In life, I’m not necessarily someone very sophisticated, but on stage, yes. Because that’s perhaps where the dream is.”

The tour – which is done with an audio guide – begins in a large room where extracts from around fifteen of his most emblematic shows are projected onto the four walls, Without intermission (1977) to Timeless (2016), passing through Pink magic (1984), Symphonic N’Roll (1988) or Major diversion (1993).

In the middle of the room, there is an island with musical instruments – guitars, violins, harp, etc. – but also benches from the Olympic Stadium painted pink.

What does she remember from those moments? Is there a show that left a bigger impression on her than any other? Diane Dufresne answers immediately: “We don’t have time to revisit them. We revisit them through other creators.” [comme ceux qui ont participé à cette exposition]. When I do a show, afterwards it’s no longer mine, it belongs to the public.”

In the second room, we find several of the artist’s dresses that are presented in a sort of carousel, a nod to Belmont Park. Her “Magie rose” dress, designed by Mario Di Nardo, her “Symphonique N’Roll” dress by Michel Robidas, the dress from the “Les violons du roi” tour by Marie Saint Pierre or the “Couleurs symphoniques” dress by the designer Mario Davignon, who created the space for these dresses.

These signature costumes have become a trademark of Diane Dufresne, who considers them “like prayers” made by designers. By dressing up on stage, she was in a way giving “permission” to her audience to express themselves as they wanted, she tells us, “because there were a lot of taboos at a certain time.” “Maybe I allowed that with my extravagance on stage.”

The exhibition of all these dresses and stage costumes is almost a miracle, we learned. A fire in the diva’s apartment – ​​in 1994 – almost took her wardrobe to the paradise of fabrics and textiles. “The firefighters were very proud to say: we protected them,” says Diane Dufresne.

In the room, we can also see a video of about thirty minutes where Diane Dufresne talks about herself today in a dressing room – it is André Ducharme who asks her questions. We discover an artist and a creator through and through, who has always been at the service… of her audience.

Richard Langevin talks about the “plural perspective” he wanted to cast on his beloved. “Diane wrote all her shows. They are handwritten in notebooks that I found. The lighting, the pacing, the special effects, the sets, the costumes. She did the same thing for her record covers, so this is the first time we’re showing that.”

We talk to him about music again – given the hanging of all his record covers, from his debut in 1972 with Hold on tight, I’m coming! has Effusions in 2007, passing through Strip Tease (1979), Turbulence (1982), Top secret (1987) or Major Diversion (1993).

“Music is divine, it comes from somewhere, it is a memory,” believes Diane Dufresne.

Asked about her famous screams that she uttered on stage or on record, the diva explains: “I screamed a lot for people who couldn’t scream. It was a way of going to the end of what I could do. I interpret emotions through my voice, because singing songs, I wouldn’t say that it’s boring, but there are a lot of people who sing…”

We will also see an installation designed by Richard Langevin, where we can see a plastic Diane Dufresne in a semi-seated position in a coffin that swings. “For me, it’s not something sad,” Diane Dufresne tells us, “it’s a beautiful installation. The idea of ​​the swing is to remove the fear of death.”

In another installation, designed this time by Catherine Deauville, we can see another representation of Diane Dufresne at the piano, with a dress by Michel Robidas. In our headphones, we can hear instrumental versions of her songs, performed by pianist Olivier Godin. “It’s a reminiscence of a TV show, Madly yourswhere Diane played the piano, and the show On my 36when Diane entered the stage with balloons that went into the sky,” Richard Langevin explains to us.

Finally, we can see some of the canvases she has painted in recent years and clay sculptures (100 little heads), a work that gives her immense joy, she tells us. “I enjoy doing this, I’m not a happy person, but this speaks to me.”

Nostalgic, Diane Dufresne, as she walks through the rooms of this exhibition? “No,” she answers spontaneously. “It moves me to see the public, I am always moved when the public is moved.” An audience that will certainly be moved as they walk through these rooms filled with gold nuggets, which pay tribute to a larger-than-life artist.

The exhibition Today, yesterday and foreveruntil October 13, at Arsenal contemporary art

Visit the exhibition page