For the first time in more than two years, prints, photographs and serigraphs will line the walls of the Grand Quai of the Port of Montreal from today, as part of the 14e edition of Paper. This contemporary art fair will cradle this year works of a more intimate and personal character, pandemic obliges. An overview of this long-awaited event for collectors, but which also aims to seduce the simple curious.
Place of exchange and discussion, Paper brings together dozens of galleries and therefore nearly 400 artists under one roof. The goal of this proliferation of contemporary art has remained the same since 2007: “To educate people, to develop passions as well as a curiosity for contemporary art”, details the gallery owner Dominique Toutant, also a member of the board of directors of the ‘Association of Contemporary Art Galleries (AGAC) which oversees the event.
Spokesperson for Paper since 2014, but in love with the event for even longer, Karine Vanasse sums up the aim of the fair as follows: “democratize contemporary art”. The actress explains that it is “to make this art accessible to as many people as possible and that it is not only in more closed environments”.
“It’s really easy with contemporary art to stay away from it all your life by telling yourself that you don’t have enough knowledge and by being intimidated by it, or by having the impression that you are going. sound a little silly, she continues. Yet it’s like all other art forms, the more you see and the more you consume, the more your eye becomes sharper. “
The desire to democratize this art also comes from the need to make it subsist and therefore to “develop collectors.” The more the years pass since the creation of the event by the AGAC, the more there are enthusiasts and curious, and therefore buyers. This is what allowed Paper to abandon its policy of works only on media of the same name. Since 2019, the fair also hosts sculptures and paintings.
The initial idea was to create a pool of amateurs, and therefore not to frighten them with exorbitant prices, often more easily generated by works found on media other than paper. The fair delivered art exclusive to this medium, which allowed artists to “present their works at relatively competitive prices”. Now that the charm of Paper is no longer to prove (48% of buyers in 2020 were new followers), this fear has disappeared.
For the best or for the worst
In 2020, Paper had to do an about-face. While its 13e edition was to take place for a second year at the ex-Alexandra jetty, the pandemic has forced the fair to move on the Web, like many events. According to Dominique Toutant, this formula is now “part of the achievements of the pandemic”, whether for better or for worse.
“That the digital version remains, it is good”, judge Karine Vanasse. It goes hand in hand with the mandate of Paper to make contemporary art more accessible. However, we lose important subtleties, such as the format and texture of the work, or even the atmosphere. “Being alone in front of your screen or rather rubbing shoulders with people who are living the experience at the same time as you, that changes things”, explains the spokesperson. She exemplifies: “Seeing a person stop in front of a work arouses curiosity, one wonders what that person has seen. “
For the director of the Blouin-Division gallery, Dominique Toutant, it is undeniable that the website is a contribution to the already existing formula. This is what allowed the event to raise 700,000 dollars last year, despite the impossibility of being open to the public. However, there are downsides.
” [La version numérique] is a success that is really linked to the artists already known. When you know an artist, you can find what you want, because you already know who you are looking for. But when the time arrives to flirt, to search, to find, just by chance… Well, the Web is more or less favorable to that, ”explains the one whose gallery is participating in the fair this year.
Reflection of the pandemic
When asked if the works resemble each other in any way due to a more intimate approach during the pandemic, Karine Vanasse and Dominique Toutant have differing opinions. While this seems obvious for the first, the gallery owner does not think he can identify a movement in the whole of the exhibition, although he himself admits to representing an artist whose approach has taken a very personal turn during the course of the exhibition. of the pandemic.
According to Karine Vanasse, the works reflect what people have felt and experienced in recent years. The greatest distinction is found in the affirmation of the themes chosen: “There are many themes that we would have approached with a little more hesitation, while there, now, we say to ourselves that as long as to talk about everything, we’re going to talk about everything for real. There are no more half measures. While everyone has the word “censorship” at the tip of their lips, the actress suggests that in contemporary art, it is not up to date.
And with a voice that unabashedly suggests excitement for the upcoming exhibition, Karine Vanasse concludes: “To feel an era through the work of an artist is one thing. But to feel the impact and the current look of artists on society, all at the same time… There is something that emerges as obvious. “
Evidence that will be possible to observe from November 26 to 28 at the Grand Quai of the port of Montreal, or on the Web.