Papier 15 cuts a deal in vast new spaces [Slide Show]

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Fair view from Papier 15 at the new location Complexe de Gaspé

The Papier 15 entrance

Celia Perrin Sidarous at Parisian Laundry (MTL)

Cynthia Dinan-Mitchell at Galerie D'Este (MTL)

Works by Divya Mehra and Kelly Wallace at Georgia Scherman Projects (TO)

Séripop (Yannick Desranleau & Chloe Lum) (right) at Galerie Hugues Charbonneau (MTL)

Karen Tam (left), Trevor Gould (2nd left) at Galerie Hugues Charbonneau (MTL)

Galerie Trois Points booth

Galerie Trois Points booth

Nicolas Fleming's site specific intstallation presented by Galerie Trois Points (MTL)

Susan Hobbs (TO) booth

Paul Butler's collages at Galerie Division (MTL/TO)

Jon Rafman (left) and Mathieu Beauséjour (right) at galerie antoine ertaskiran (MTL)

Nicholas Pye and Shiela Pye at Birch Contemporary (TO)

Jessica Eaton (right), David Sullivan (middle) at Jessica Bradley Gallery (TO)

Diaz Contemporary booth (TO)

Marvin Luvualu Antonio (right) at Clint Roenisch Gallery (TO)

Eli Langer (right) at Clint Roenisch Gallery (TO)

Sara A Tremblay at dc3 Art Projects (Edmonton)

Guided Tour

Lisa Kehler Art + Projects (Winnipeg) booth

Eric Simon's large drawing presented by Galerie Donald Browne (MTL)

Fair view at Paier 15

Ed Pien's large work on paper presented by Pierre François Oulette Art Contemporain (MTL)

Papier 15 Billboard in Mile End

Papier 15 as always dedicated its art fair programme towards works exclusively made on paper, to include drawings, prints, collages, photography as well as three-dimensional paper-based objects. The annual fair opened its 8th edition between 24 and 26 April, and over the years, Papier’s reputation has risen to now feature among the top do-not-miss events on Montreal’s contemporary arts calendar. For 2015 Papier relocated to Complexe de Gaspé, which is rapidly developing into a new arts hub, housing four floors of artist studios and six artist run spaces in the hip Mile End district. The fair took over the top three floors of this 11-story building filled in natural light, to accommodate 39 galleries from across Canada. Comparatively to previous years, the somewhat leaner line-up of exhibiters did combine many regulars with first timers such as Diaz Contemporary (Toronto [TO]), Lisa Kehler Art + Projects (Winnipeg), Initial Gallery (Vancouver) and Studio 21 Fine Art (Halifax). The smaller numbers of booths were nonetheless particularly well positioned in an otherwise enormous space, circling the middle of each floor to leave a wide walkway around the window-covered external walls, for visitors to also enjoy a 360 panoramic view of La Belle Ville.

While many galleries subscribed to the orthodox art fair presentation format – to compound tight wall arrangements of works from local, national and some international talents – there were enough intriguing amalgamations to capture our imagination and trigger a few surprises. Galerie Donald Browne (Montreal [MTL]) offered a playful twist with Valérie Kolakis’ bronze sculpture appropriated from an open cardboard box; Susan Hobbs (TO), proposed rows of printed editions by her represented artists, all identical in size, neatly displayed in transparent envelops and low priced enough to entice entry-level collectors; Galerie D’Este (MTL) stylishly hung five of Cynthia Dinan-Mitchell’s drawings against baroquely decorative wallpaper, designed by the same artist; the hazy still life photography of Celia Perrin Sidarous presented in elegant form at Parisian Laundry (MTL); Birch Contemporary (TO) set together dry portraits by former artist couple Nicholas Pye & Shiela Pye; Galerie Hugues Charbonneau (MTL) flocked an eclectic mix of works, presenting each artist within its own creative niche of materiality and subject matter; a series of sketchy yet attention grabbing drawings by Eli Langer co-habited with Marvin Luvualu Antonio’s mixed media collage by Clint Roenisch Gallery (TO). In addition to fronting Evergon’s large scale photography juxtaposed with the dusky abstractions of John Boyle-Singfield’s “Instagram” series, Galerie Trois Points (MTL) also featured Nicolas Fleming’s rough yet functional sculptures – two chairs and a table – used as such for their booth hospitality. Nicolas Fleming was also commissioned for Papier Projects, to produce a site-specific installation consisting of a large round bench glowing under florescent tubes in the vast empty spaces of the 9th floor. A new incentive for this year, Papier Projects featured a total of ten large-scale sculptures and installations introduced by an equal number of galleries, to count Jon Sasaki’s confetti installation presented by Jessica Bradley Gallery (TO). Another new programme gathered video works by 17 artists within a dedicated viewing booth, from Michah Lexier (presented by Birch Contemporary) to Jacynthe Carrier (galerie antoine ertaskiran), Kelly Mark (Diaz Contemporary), Serge Clément (Galerie Simon Blais) and many others.

Papier’s commitment for education started with its free general admission, alongside multiple daily talks organised in partnership with French language newspaper Le Devoir, Canadian Art magazine and online art publication Momus. The talks ranged from the topics of photography, collecting contemporary art, to the role of media in visual arts. Many thematic guided tours were also planned throughout the event.

According to the AGAC organisers, Papier welcomed nearly 17,000 visitors over three days with sales reaching CA$900,000; a 21% increase from last year. These statistics must have been a relief for all local art professionals since Loto-Québec, one of the province’s largest corporate collectors, announced earlier this year that they would suspend new acquisitions of contemporary art. Furthermore, other dealers have left the fair to inaugurate a satellite event just down the road, at the same time as Papier. In hindsight, perhaps Papier’s venue was too voluminous for such a small number of booths, and didn’t live up to the vast expanses. If Papier returns to Complexe de Gaspé next year, it will need more creative impetus to maximize this great spatial potential without loosing any of Papier’s charm, or intimacy.

All photos by M-KOS.

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