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Interview: Anne-Marie Ninacs, guest curator for the 12th Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal


Photo: Pierre Blache

Anne-Marie Ninacs is an independent researcher and curator, she was invited as guest curator for the 12th edition of Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal, one of the city’s most prestigious international visual art events. She brought together works by 25 artists worldwide under “Lucidity”, a theme very dear to her…

M-KOS: Anne-Marie Ninacs can you tell us about the process that led to your decision to act as commissioner for Le Mois de la Photo?

Anne-Marie Ninacs: Le Mois de la Photo usually proceeds with open submissions, from this I proposed a concept to the event director that I would be interested in pursuing for the next event, and which artists I would want to present. Things like that. So that’s what I did, and here I am.

M: And have you worked a lot with photography before this event? Is it part of a broader concern?

AMN: No, actually I’m not an expert in photography. I’ve always resisted to be a single discipline specialist, I was never interested to look at things from a disciplinary angle. To take on the role of curator of photography was something very new, and I think it’s beneficial for an event specializing in photography to be organized by people who are not coming in with fixed preconceptions or an informed vision. I do personally like this non-specialist position, that’s where we become most interesting, most alive, and I always try to put myself out of my comfort zone. This allowed me to learn a lot about photography, I think it also allowed me to provide other perspectives, to see photography in works that are not considered as such, as in the work of Douglas Gordon for example, or to bring forth propositions that may be more esthetic, or very sensitive to the visual aspect of works, such as the tinkerings of Augustin Rebetez, or even with Roger Ballen who is trained as a photographer but does offer a different perspective.
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Interview: Pascal Grandmaison

“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. Continue reading “Interview: Pascal Grandmaison”

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Interview: Montreal Biennale Artistic Director Claude Gosselin

Since founding the Centre International d’Art Contemporain, Claude Gosselin has been a commanding figure for Montreal’s art scene. Hosting events such as Les Cents Jours d’Art Contemporain, and more recently, The Montreal Biennale, he often acted as the middle-man between international and local artists, by putting them on equal platforms. M-KOS interviews Claude Gosselin, perhaps now at a decisive moment in his career.

M-KOS: Claude Gosselin thank you for granting us this interview, here we are already drawing near the end of this year’s Biennale and its exhibition period, can you share with us some of your impressions, are you happy with the results so far?

Claude Gosselin: Yes indeed reactions from the public and even the critics have been very good, in fact we have seen a 30% increase in visitor attendance from our previous edition, and also increases in attendance at our educational and cultural activities. We had different components of the Biennale this year, we had creative workshops, also a cinema program and an electronic arts program. Then for the satisfaction of the general audience we had a mixture of artists, half coming from Canada, half from abroad, also they were of many different generations. So there was an array of works responding to different audiences, and this is probably what caused the Biennale to be so well attended.
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Interview: Gwenaël Bélanger

A series of “Comic Strip (orange)” (2011) inkjet print. Image courtesy of the artist and Galerie Graff. © 2011 Gwenaël Bélanger

Canadian artist Gwenaël Bélanger works in close, critical observation of phenomena which lie at the limit of perception for the naked eye, but are enhanced using mainly photographic and other lens-based processes. In creating tension between what audiences see and expect to see, Bélanger finds his creative arena, where perceptive deceptions, constructions and manipulations flourish.

M-KOS interviewed Bélanger in occurrence with “Broyer du Noir + Color Break”, his latest solo exhibition at Galerie Graff in Montréal, which featured some of his latest experiments in photography, glass and colour, plus a few surprises.

M-KOS: Can you tell us if any specific event triggered you to produce this new series of works?

Gwenaël Bélanger: This is the first solo show I organized since being awarded the Pierre Ayot Prize. There’s no direct connection with the works I entered for that submission, but a specific sum in that prize was dedicated to the promotion a forthcoming exhibition, which is this one.

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