Art center exhibitions are on the rise!

The dynamism of contemporary art centers and non-museum visual arts spaces is currently unheard of in Quebec. Is the pandemic to blame? In any case, this abundance makes it difficult to name all the interesting exhibitions presented this winter, that is to say about fifty at the very least. Here is a selection.

Eric Clement
The Press

The 2022 season will begin in two weeks at the Phi Foundation, which will make a big splash by hosting an exhibition by Stan Douglas, the Vancouver artist who will represent Canada at the 59^and Venice Biennale from April 23. Phi will exhibit, from February 19 to May 22, his latest photographic series, Penn Station’s Half Century (2021), and its corpus Disco Angola (2012), never exhibited in Quebec.

In addition, the Phi Center will present a new immersive experience, Excessive sky, lasting 45 minutes and made up of five stories set on the sidelines of September 11, 2001. A work by Brigitte Poupart based on a poetic suite by Madeleine Monette. From February 17 to May 15.

Diagonale also fills us with the new corpus of the Anishinabée Maria Hupfield, Manidoowegin, consisting of handcrafted sculptural garments. Until March 19.

The Molinari Foundation will tip its hat to Robert Holland Murray, artist and professor at Concordia who died in 2017. The retrospective, curated by artist David Elliott, includes drawings, paintings, engravings and sculptural installations. From February 3 to April 3.

At the Center Clark, Nicolas Grenier was chosen to design the fourth edition of the benefit exhibition Model House, presented from February 24 to March 12. With a solid string of artists such as Skawennati, Marion Wagschal, Caroline Monnet, Karen Tam, Massimo Guerrera, Karine Fréchette or even Rajni Perera.

The B-312 gallery presents the exhibition Fluid states: between the hardness of doing and the delicacy of blushers, by Maude Arès and Massimo Guerrera, invited to explore practice as matter. This is the first exhibition in a series designed to mark the 30th anniversary of the artist-run centre. Until March 12. This will be followed by exhibitions by Moridja Kitenge Banza, Marion Lessard and Vincent Routhier, then by Zipertatou and Maxime Bruneau.

At Optica, Olivia Boudreau and Caroline Cloutier are on the program until March 19. Then, photographer Clara Gutsche will take over, from April 9 to June 11.

At the Georges-Vanier Cultural Center, the exhibition [E]spaces, bringing together the works of Lucie Bitunjac and Trevor Kiernander, is presented until February 24.

Oboro and Vidéographe present together, until March 5, Roberto Santaguida with First Fiftha 15-channel documentary installation.

Arprim, the test center in printed art, has two exhibitions until February 26th. First of all Root Skies, a “garden” by Anne-Marie Proulx made up of 13 women, artists, authors, friends, mothers, daughters including Jacynthe Carrier, Hannah Claus, Marie-Michelle Deschamps and Dominique Pétrin. And then the presentation of Harmonic marchesan artist’s book by Caroline Ariane Bergeron.

The Ahuntsic cultural center presents, until February 13, Territories manipulated, bas-reliefs by Jean-François Roy made from recuperated geographical maps. A look at our relationship to place and territory.

Outside Montreal

The Diane-Dufresne art center in Repentigny offers, from February 4 to April 3, Song of the epidermis/The ultimate peregrinationa series of photographs by Hélène Roy, as well as the collective exhibition Aynalem – The eye of the world with Dorothy Mombrun, Hilary Etomo Mba, Kezna Dalz and Bliss Mutanda who will evoke the representation of black women through painting, photography, textiles and performance.

Stanley February had a great year in 2021. It continues with Is being human an absolute evil? at Expression, the Saint-Hyacinthe exhibition centre, until April 24. A participatory exhibition on the notion of identity construction in our time of dependence on social networks.

In the Eastern Townships, the Foreman Art Gallery of Bishop’s University and the Sporobole Center present, until March 26, the exhibition Eyes in the water who is interested in the relationships that are born near water. With works by Caroline Monnet, Ludovic Boney, Kelly Jaclynn Andres, Maude Deslauriers, Gaëlle Elma and Tania Love.

The R3 university gallery, in Trois-Rivières, is exhibiting research on the theme of work, by Karine Savard, until February 12, before presenting Congenital analgesiaa look at the social conflicts of Shabnam Zeraati.

In Victoriaville, the Jacques and Michel Auger Center offers renaud, an immersive and very personal installation by Renaud Salvail. The art center of the Trinity estate, in Saint-Jean-sur Richelieu, exhibits North of the North, recent, delicate and wintry paintings by Daniel Lalonde. Until March 6.

In Quebec, the Maison des métiers d’art, in collaboration with the Ursulines monastery and the Materia center, presents the textile art exhibition Affiliations at Materia, until February 13. It is a contemporary reinterpretation of textile works from the collections of the Ursulines.

Finally, the Est-Nord-Est art space in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli is hosting until March 25 the artists of its winter residency, namely Andréanne Godin, Jean-Pierre Mot, Shanie Tomassini, the author Alexandre Piral and the Belgian duo Aparicio/Eeraerts (Belgium). The public is invited to discover the paths and research intentions of these artists during presentations that will take place online on February 10.