Art Manifesto 11
Latency, pause, introspection, these “forces of sleep” which shake up our lifestyles compose the theme of the eleventh edition of the Manif d’art, the biennial of Quebec (of Quebec, so much has it taken on ‘importance). An enticing edition which counts big names among around sixty artists (Francis Alÿs, Kapwani Kiwanga, Liz Magor, François Morelli) and for which the winter event has reshuffled its cards and expanded. Gone is its presence at the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec; the central exhibition returns to the Espace Quatre Cents. The Manif will land in the usual artist centers of Quebec, but also, for the first time, in the museums of Baie-Saint-Paul and Joliette. “Exhibitions are awakening situations,” writes the guest curator, La Parisienne Marie Muracciole. Artistic processes […] encourage the recomposition of our perceptions, our certainties and the hierarchies that govern us. “. On view from February 23 to April 28.
In this same spirit of political resistance linked to rest, the Galerie de l’UQAM is offering an entirely Anglo-Saxon exhibition (six artists and a curator from Canada, the United States and England). From life to bedfrom February 23 to April 6.
Removals
Each season brings changes of address. Among the galleries that are moving is the small Offsite of the always surprising Eli Kerr. “The gallery is resolutely French-speaking since seven of the nine artists are native French speakers,” maintains the man who is himself English-speaking. Offsite, now renamed Galerie Eli Kerr, is leaving Avenue du Parc for a space five times larger on Boulevard Saint-Laurent, north of Avenue du Mont-Royal. The inaugural exhibition, scheduled for February 29, will bring together all of the gallery’s artists (including Valérie Blass, Anthony Burnham, Joyce Joumaa and Jean-François Lauda).
After ten years in Old Montreal, the Nicolas Robert gallery will also reappear on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, in the same surroundings as Offsite. With the same reason: a larger premises, conducive to programming several simultaneous exhibitions. The content of his new life will be announced later, but should begin in March.
Twenty years and over
In the absence of contemporary art museums which offer major exhibitions to Quebec artists, presenters of a different nature, and with financial means and smaller physical spaces, do so. The Expression center of Saint-Hyacinthe will thus present an assessment of the practice of Kim Waldron started twenty years ago. A photographic practice focused on autofiction where she embodies a diversity of roles and professions and explores the social fabric of the world. The one that went as far as China even made it a corporation. On view from January 20 to April 21.
At Projet Casa, two 30-year careers will be honored. The private broadcaster begins its season with Ordeals of the painter Rafael Sottolichio (from January 17 to 28), of which we almost forgot that he had a studio practice as he produces urban murals, and will finish it with the sculptor Michael A. Robinsonwhose assemblages of objects play on the limits of balance, by presenting a retrospective, from March 28 to April 21.
To transmit
Support for the next generation, the passing of the baton, the transmission of knowledge, all of this is manifested this winter in more than one form. Already well established, Moridja Kitenge Banza was invited by Hugues Charbonneau to play mentor. The season opens with the works of two Montreal artists to discover. Marie-Danielle Duvalof Senegalese origin, draws on literature and oral tradition to paint characters and Farzaneh Rezaei, born in Iran, draws his daily life and his nomadic life. At the Hugues Charbonneau gallery, from January 18 to February 24.
The Maison des arts de Laval offers the exhibition Passers bringing together Denis Rousseau and six artists who had him as a teacher such as Helena Martin Franco, Karine Payette or Jean-Jacques Ringuette. These artists, in turn, invited six of their students.
Art and more
The mixture of disciplines is no longer surprising, but still manages to create something unusual. The Gallery of the University of Montreal, building on its scientific momentum this fall, is offering a foray into a research chair on maternity. Four artists (Heidi Barkun, Caroline Boileau, Kimberley de Jong, Hermione Wiltshire) deliver the results, in sculpture, installation, drawing, video and performance, of three years of residency. Led by the commissioner Marianne Cloutierthe exhibition The begetting “explores the myths surrounding motherhood and the conflicting emotions that emerge during this complex process of giving birth to life.” From January 19 to April 6.
The UQAM Design Center (from February 21 to April 14) and Vox, center of contemporary image (from February 22 to June 4) come together to highlight typography as an experimental discipline, driven to renew the readability standards. Conceptual artists, designers and a youth section on the alphabet theme make up TYPO + ART | ART + TYPE, a program concocted by Angela Grauerholz And Robert Fones.
The Artexte center, rich in archives, inspired two curators. For the exhibition Artletism (from January 19 to March 30), Didier Morelli explored what links artists to sport, while Manon Tourignydirector of the center, explores food and in particular recipe books in Set the tablepresented from April 19 to June 23.