Emmanuel Laflamme, the incredulous artist | Press

The pandemic, climate threats, the rise of extremism generate mistrust, doubts and concerns among many people. This is the case of Emmanuel Laflamme, an incredulous artist who transposes his skepticism and his fears into a dense art, imbued with spirituality.

Eric Clement
Press

Emmanuel Laflamme does not easily believe in the “reality” or the “truth” of a thing. Faced with his disbelief, we lose our Latin a little. Especially in these times when conspiracy is raging. But he deserves to be known because of his undeniable talent and his tendency to torture his brain.

The 37-year-old artist has been a cartoon designer, especially for Idiots, from 2015 to 2016. He then turned to painting, sculpture, murals, installations and now video. His foray into contemporary art coincides with a certain growth of doubt in him. A need to reason, to question, as much as to share. Hence the art workshops he gives in elementary and secondary schools in Quebec. And his involvement with the organization Les impatients. “The more I give, the more I get,” he says.

Emmanuel Laflamme is interested in “the symbolism of the unknown” and the human condition. Butterflies Are Free to Fly, a book by American professor Stephen Davies, upset him. Davies evokes there the allegory of the cave of Plato, in other words the difficulty for the man to reach a full knowledge and to manage to share it.

In this 2010 book, Davies replaced the cave with a movie theater. And the men chained by beings who come out of the screening of a film to achieve their spiritual awakening, break their chains and assume their freedom.

Embracing this allegory, Emmanuel Laflamme had the idea to recreate for his exhibition Our main program a small cinema room with a bench to watch the movie he created. His first.

Our Feature Presentation is a montage of extracts from fiction films and television archives on the conquest of space and American politics. It shows statements by American presidents, including John F. Kennedy, when he spoke about secret societies and things hidden from the public.

The juxtaposition of the images chosen by Laflamme creates unease. As if the fact of putting the speeches in parallel insinuated something disturbing in us. “What I like is when you have an idea about someone or something, that this idea is made, but you are missing an info,” says the artist. When you get it, you see it in a different light and you change your mind. It challenges my preconceptions. ”

Emmanuel Laflamme does not want to put words in our mouths. “But I want it to generate a discussion,” he adds. One of his works evokes the various scandals in Hollywood. Another puts ex-astronaut Buzz Aldrin (who walked on the moon in 1969) in a situation with a cameraman. To evoke the thesis that the image of Aldrin near the American flag was shot in the studio …

The artist loves controversial subjects. His exhibition is timely. The pandemic has sparked endless controversy over adherence (or not) to health measures. At the same time, voices are raised more and more against transhumanism, a movement which aims to “improve” the human condition (even to prolong life) thanks to scientific progress, even if it means transforming the very nature of the human being. .

Emmanuel Laflamme hardly takes this movement. He is wary of technology and wonders about the consequences of messenger RNA vaccines. Most scientists, however, assure that these vaccines against COVID-19 do not affect DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), because the messenger RNA would not enter the nucleus of cells. But the artist remains skeptical and cautious. He has chosen not to be vaccinated against COVID-19, respecting those who lend themselves to it.

“What worries me today is uniform thinking,” he says. I don’t judge others. I understand different points of view, but I have the right to choose the risks I take. I try to listen as much as possible to how I feel when I receive information. ”

Emmanuel Laflamme obviously receives a lot of pressure to “join the ranks”. “I don’t feel at risk with the virus,” he says. I pay great attention to my immune system, to what is called natural immunity. I avoid telling others about the vaccine because the world is very polarized. When in fact, I have more questions than answers… ”His works, in any case, speak for themselves. The snake which bites its tail is the human species which is going to its destruction.

The pandemic inspired him so much that he will publish a book on COVID-19 in early 2022. Coronart will revisit myths and legends by integrating the representation of the coronavirus. “This series of works, to say the least impactful, ironic and metaphorical, leads us to question ourselves, writes in the future preface the curator Mylène Lachance-Paquin, collaborator at the Art Mûr gallery. By observing them, one wonders what the impacts of these events will be on the future. ”

Emmanuel Laflamme’s questioning can disturb, but find a large audience. Gallerist Hubert Kalkman from Maastricht, the Netherlands, is full of praise for him. “I have been since 2018 and collectors love the smoothness of his wit,” he says. I can’t wait to exhibit his works when I open a second space in Antwerp in a few days. In Montreal, after having been at Station 16, Laflamme has just joined the new contemporary art gallery on Laurier Avenue West, Salon Art Club, in Outremont, created by Katia Dubois and Stéphane Michaud.

“He’s an intelligent artist,” says Katia Dubois. He is the first artist we chose for the gallery, after my father, Jean-Daniel Rohrer, of course. I like his pop art side and the subliminal messages of his works. We will launch his book Coronart in our gallery. ”

At the Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, at 6400 avenue de Monkland.

See the full series of Coronart