Françoise Sullivan – “I let the rhythms flow” at the MMFA | The importance of titles

It was a bit of a Françoise Sullivan party on Monday morning, the day of the first snow in town, when her recent work was presented at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Patient and generous, the artist spoke about her works, life and climate change. Summary, in five quotes, from the now century-old artist.

“In the visual arts, painting is the most important form. »

Françoise Sullivan is an artist who has experimented with several mediums. We know her as a dancer and choreographer – notably for this legendary 1948 performance, Dancing in the snowwhose photos by Maurice Perron are also presented in this exhibition which opens today.

However, it is his recent painting, from 2022 and 2023, which has pride of place at the Museum of Fine Arts, while the exhibition titled Françoise Sullivan – “I let the rhythms flow”.

At a press conference on Monday morning, Françoise Sullivan admitted that she has always considered painting to be the pillar of the visual arts, having returned to it in the 1980s, after cycles of experimentation.

“I neglected it for a while in my career,” she said, “but I had to come back to it. »

“Look at the titles. »

For his 2022-2023 series, the artist advises reading the titles carefully.

They were inspired by Flaubert, because that’s what she was reading last summer, at the time of creation, said the curator of the exhibition, Florence-Agathe Dubé-Moreau, who also recounted this day when Françoise Sullivan presented him with the hanging order of the works, with their titles. “It was so beautiful, the titles are so literary,” said Florence-Agathe Dubé-Morin, who thought she was receiving a poem when she read them the first time.

Among his recent paintings, we find The harbinger of the moons, Your lightning dazzles me And We feel the succession of ages.

As for the title of this exhibition, “I let the rhythms flow”it is the artist herself who thus described the improvised movement of her Dancing in the snowin a text dating from the 1970s.

“This title symbolizes the link between dance and painting,” said the guest curator, Florence-Agathe Dubé-Moreau, because we find the very strong gesture throughout Sullivan’s work.

“It’s inspired by the incredible summer we had. »

It was not just Flaubert who inspired Françoise Sullivan; the climatic events of last summer guided part of the work of someone who has been interested in the environment for decades, and who transposes her concerns into her work.

She admitted Monday morning that her recent production had been very influenced by “rain, storms and sunshine” sequences.

“If I look at my life, I see that creation is important. »

Much has been said about Françoise Sullivan, in this year marking the 75th^e birthday of Overall refusalof which she is a co-signatory.

At the beginning of fall, we unveiled this huge mural which is on the facade of the Hyatt hotel adjacent to Émilie-Gamelin Park, in Montreal.

In Ottawa, one of his works is part of the Riopelle exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada. The artists, both born in 1923, are founding members of the Automatists group.

Françoise Sullivan continues to create almost daily in her new studio which is a few minutes’ walk from her house. One of the last paintings in the exhibition was created in 48 consecutive hours, “without eating,” said its creator.

“The Museum has always been a blessed place for me, since childhood. »

Françoise Sullivan is somewhat at home at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, which dedicated an exhibition to her at the start of her career.

Then, in 2003, a retrospective was presented there, curated by Stéphane Aquin, who has since become director general of the MMFA. Which made an amused Françoise Sullivan say that it was certainly a sign that “he didn’t find it too difficult”.

The exhibition is held in three rooms in the basement of the museum, one large, two small. In addition to photos of Maurice Perron and his painting, there is a series of pastels from the 1990s (recently found in his archives) and a large sculpture, a reconstruction of a work from 1968, as well as some pieces from the collection of the museum.

Françoise Sullivan – “I let the rhythms flow”presented from 1^er November, until February 18, 2024