Monthly Archives: June 2011

Breaking News: Aude Moreau awarded the 2011 Powerhouse Prize

Posted on June 30, 2011 by M-KOS| Leave a comment

Aude Moreau installs “Tapis de sucre 3″ (2008) at Darling Fondry in 2008 © Aude Moreau

Last night the multidisciplinary artist was made recipient of the first edition of a yearly prize given to women from Powerhouse Gallery.

Aude Moreau is a French-born artist living and working in Montreal since the early 90s, who just recently completed her MA in Visual and Media Arts at UQAM. Moreau is also one of the recipients for this year’s Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Fellowship in Contemporary Art. From 2000 she has accumulated an impressive body of work including the installations series “Tapis de sucre” (2006/2008) and “Tirer le ciel (Shooting the Sky)” (2005–2010). The diversity of Moreau’s work also incorporates media, performance and video, often employing everyday consumer materials of ephemeral qualities. Stemming from routine experiences, her work evokes contradictory notion of loss and attainment, in confrontation with the alienating forces of culture and consumerism. So far she has exhibited in Quebec, France, USA and Luxembourg.
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What’s on this week: 27.06–03.07.2011

Posted on June 27, 2011 by M-KOS| Leave a comment

This week’s pick ‘n’ mix from Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver, New York, São Paulo, London, Manchester, Glasgow, Brussels, Vienna, Copenhagen, Tokyo, Kanazawa, Marugame and Beijing. For Biennales&Triennales, see M-KOS’s previous post.

Montréal

Berlinde De Bruyckere / John Currin
at DHC/ART,
30 June – 30 September 2011
 

Event:
John Currin: Artist Talk
Tuesday 28 June 2011 7pm
at Maxwell Cummings Auditorium
Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion
Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal
1379 Sherbrooke Street W.

Free admission.
(Seating is limited and available on a first come,
first serve basis.)
 
 
 

(top) Berlinde De Bruyckere “Les Deux” (2007) Courtesy Galleria Continua, San Gimignano / Beijing / Le Moulin and Hauser & Wirth Zürich London. (below) John Currin “Rachel in Fur” (2003) © John Currin. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.
 
 

Mathieu Lefevre: Showing Stuff In A Big Room
at Galerie Division
25 June – 30 July 2011
 
 
 
 
 

Mathieu Lefevre “Face Plant” oil on canvas (2011) Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Division
 
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Posted in Visual Arts, What's On

Outlook: Provincially Yours

Posted on June 24, 2011 by M-KOS| Leave a comment

Performance view at Sadler’s Wells. “Un Peu De Tendresse Bordel De Merde!” (2010) Photo by Alastair Muir

Not so long ago, Montreal-based dance company Dave St-Pierre performed at Sadler’s Wells in London. Their much-hyped piece Un Peu De Tendresse Bordel De Merde! divided the audience’s opinion into camps at opposite ends of the appreciative spectrum: loving or hating it. Critics in the latter group were utterly appalled by St-Pierre’s visceral choreography, giving it a zero star and snippy comment such as “lazy, derivative and very, very provincial!” (one critic in particular allegedly had his specs taken off and spat on by one of the dancer, all a part of the performance, of course). The intended shock and awe of bullock-naked dancers running through the audience didn’t quite hit the mark of a memorable work, in a city forged by traditions of dissent and punk ethics.

Crossing over the channel, we find a new exhibition opening at La Maison Rouge in Paris, to once again put Canadian culture in the spotlight, this time looking at Winnipeg. Their press release states: Read more »

Posted in Outlook, Visual Arts

What’s on this week: 20.06–26.06.2011

Posted on June 20, 2011 by M-KOS| Leave a comment

This week’s pick ‘n’ mix from Montréal, St-Hyacinthe, Toronto, Vancouver, London, Bristol, Oxford, Paris, New York, Troy, San Francisco, Antwerp, Karlesruhe and Berlin. For Biennales&Triennales, see M-KOS’s previous post.

Montréal

Summertime in Paris: Kindling
at Parisian Laundry, 23 June – 30 July 2011
(Opening on Wednesday 22 June 2011, 6–9pm)

Artists: Jaime Angelopoulos, Chloé Desjardins, Luc Paradis, Rachel Shaw and William Villalongo

Luc Paradis “Stick it Out There” (2010) oil on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Parisian Laundry
 

Pierre Gallais: MatHérealisation
at Circa, through 9 July 2011
 
 

Courtesy of the artist
 

Éponymies
at Galerie Trois Points, through 20 August 2011

Artists: Sylvain Bouthillette, Michel Daigneault, Scott Everingham, Clint Griffin, Nathalie Grimard, Mathieu Lévesque, Natalie Reis, Max Wyse, Alex McLeod

Alex McLeod “White Cave” (2011) C-Print. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Trois Points

St.Hyacinthe

Emmanuelle Léonard: Juste Un Image
at Expression Centre d’Exposition de Saint-Hyacinthe, through 14 August 2011

Curated by Nicole Gingras

Courtesy of the artist
 

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Posted in Visual Arts, What's On

Biennales and Triennales 2011 [Updated 27.09.2011]

Posted on June 17, 2011 by M-KOS| Leave a comment

Maurizio Cattelan’s stuffed pigeons on the façade of the central pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale. Photo by Jerry Saltz

Biennales and Triennales have sprouted out of every decent sized city over the last few decades. Needless to say, the Venice Biennale is the eldest and, although its denomination as the “Art World Olympics” is slightly dated in these transnational times, it is still considered the greatest art show on earth. New Orleans’s Prospect, as well as the Pittsburgh and Brussels Biennales are the most recent new comers on this ever-growing list. There are now so many Bi- and Tri-ennales organised around in the world that it is possible to find one going on at any time throughout the year. With this in mind, M-KOS is offering its readers a calendar list of such events for the rest of 2011, to look all of them up from one single post instead of on our weekly What’s On feature.
 

Prague Biennale 5 / Prague Biennale Photo 2
19 May – 11 September 2011
Directors: Giancarlo Politi, Helena Kontova;
Curator: Nicola Trezzi
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The 54th Venice Biennale
Titile: ILLUMInations
4 June – 25 November 2011
Director: Bice Curiger
 
 
 
 
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Posted in Biennale/Triennale, Visual Arts

Interview: Pascal Grandmaison

Posted on June 14, 2011 by M-KOS| Leave a comment

“One Eye Open” (2011) three-channel video HD projection. Installation view at Galerie René Blouin. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie René Blouin.

Pascal Grandmaison’s latest exhibition “Projections” is currently on view at Galerie Réne Blouin, for the inauguration of his new space on 2020 William Street, Montréal with two recent video works. A soundless three-channel HD video projection, “One Eye Open” (2011) meticulously depicts a bouquet of plastic flowers illuminated in pseudo-natural beauty, and “The Neutrality Escape” (2008) looks into the history of cinema, with another, single-channel HD video. M-Kos interviews Grandmaison about these and other projects.

M-KOS: Can you tell us a little bit about “Projections” your latest exhibition at René Blouin?

Pascal Grandmaison: The work we are seeing today is a follow up to a succession of projects I’ve done around the concept of daylight, I worked on several projects this year, I was really trying to look at the diverse facets of how we receive sunlight, how we interact with light arriving as a physical phenomenon, how light travels in space, and how it may affect us day-to-day. Read more »

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What’s on this week: 13.06–19.06.2011

Posted on June 13, 2011 by M-KOS| Leave a comment

This week’s pick ‘n’ mix from Basel, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver, Boston, New York, London, Sheffield, Birmingham and Vienna, plus Art Fairs and Biennales.

ART FAIR

Art 42 Basel, 15–19 June 2011 at Messe Basel, Switzerland
 

VOLTA 7
13–18 June 2011
at Dreispitzhalle, Basel, Switzerland
 
 
 

LISTE 16
14–19 June 2011
Burgweg 15, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
 
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Posted in Visual Arts, What's On

Review: Kent Monkman “The Atelier”

Posted on June 10, 2011 by M-KOS| Leave a comment

Currently on view: Montréal
Kent Monkman: The Atelier
at Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain
14 May – 23 June 2011

Installation view. Courtesy of the artist and Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain

“The Atelier” is Kent Monkman’s current exhibition at Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, transforming the entrance of the gallery into an open artist studio, furnished with antique décor including Récamier, wall paper and thick embroidered drape curtains partially covering a theatre window. Placed at the centre of this mise en scène (although exclusively for the pleasure of those at the private view) a winged male nude poses next to an easel, canvas and used paintbrushes, piles of drawings and etchings of reference materials cluttered on the adjacent wall. Mimicking the romantic ideal of a 19th Century European studio, Monkman invokes the artist as creative genius, bastardized with contemporary paraphernalia such as a Louis Vuitton handbag and photographs of Princes William and Harry. Monkman opens the studio door for his audience to take a quick tour of the creative process in his new series of fables.
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What’s on this week: 06.06–12.06.2011

Posted on June 7, 2011 by M-KOS| Leave a comment

This week’ pick ‘n’ mix from Venice, London, Montréal, Toronto, New York, Mexico City, Madrid, Zurich and Berlin

BIENNALE

The 54th Venice Biennale
Titile: ILLUMInations
4 June – 25 November 2011
 
 
 
 
 

ART FAIR

The 2nd edition of Pinta London – the Modern and
Contemporary Latin American Art Show
at Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, London UK
6 June – 9 June 2011
 

Montréal

Déjà – A collection on display
at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal
26 May – 4 September 2011
 

Louise Bourgeois “The Red Room – Child” (1994) Courtesy of Succession de Louise Bourgeois/SODRAC (Montréal), VAGA (NY) Photo: Richard-Max Tremblay
 

Pascal Grandmaison: Projections
at Galerie Réne Blouin
(new space: 2020 Rue William, Montreal, QC H3J 1R9)
from 4 June 2011

“One Eye Open (video still)” (2011) Video HD, Courtesy of the artist and Galerie René Blouin
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Posted in Visual Arts, What's On

PINTA: the Modern and Contemporary Latin American Art Fair

Posted on June 5, 2011 by M-KOS| Leave a comment

The 2nd Edition of PINTA London
At Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London
6–9 June 2011
www.pintaart.com

Rivane Neuenschwander “Prosopopeia” (2010) Courtesy of Stephen Friedman Gallery/Tanya Bonakdar
Gallery/Galeria Fortes Vilaca. Photo by Helene Toresdotter. via PINTA

While it might be overshadowed by all the hype of The 54th Venice Biennale, The 2nd edition of PINTA London – Latin American Art Fair, kicks off at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London on Monday 6th June. PINTA originally started in New York in 2007 then expanded to London last year, showcasing 60 galleries from Latin America, USA and Europe. But the London debut had a rather shaky start. Galleries including Haunch of Venison and White Cube decided not to renew their presence for this year, although good numbers of new galleries are making their debut this year and showing a strong portfolio, most based in Brazil and Spain. Read more »

Posted in Art Fair, Visual Arts

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