contemporary art blog
Edward Burtynsky, Manufacturing #17, 2005. Courtesy the artist. ©Edward Burtynsky
Since today is Labour Day, M-KOS is putting together a shortlist of contemporary artworks that put the issue of work and labour into perspective.
Continue reading “Art of Labour”
Shayne Dark’s sculptures, Critical Mass welcome the audience at the entrance of the fair.
PAPIER offers a refreshing aspect to the widening proliferation of art fairs by featuring works exclusively produced on paper, from drawings to prints as well as photography. This year the PAPIER fair hosted its fifth edition on 13–15 April, setting up its showroom tent at the heart of Montreal’s cultural quarter to accommodate 38 exhibitors from Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax. Many of these were already members of AGAC (Contemporary Art Galleries Association), which organized the event. Although PAPIER started as an internally guarded affair, servicing only a small circle of local galleries, its reputation has been progressively expanding. From last year, some of the best Toronto galleries such as Birch Libralato and Susan Hobbs also joined in. In this edition over 400 emerging to established artists were represented, to attract more than 10,000 visitors with a total sale of approximately CA$700,000. The slightly higher income over last year included purchases from returning corporate collectors such as Loto-Quebec, Hydro-Quebec, Cirque du Soleil and so on.
Continue reading “Art Marathon: PAPIER 12”
Montreal is well known for its underground city. During the long Canadian winter, people get around the city’s downtown area, from one tunnel to another, without ever going out into the frosty air. Between 25 February through 11 March Montreal’s underground city was hosting the fourth edition of Art Souterrain (Subterranean Art, in French), a contemporary art event inaugurated in 2009 by Frédéric Loury, director of Galerie [SAS]. This year Art Souterrain showcased 140 art projects, including installations, photography, video, performance and permanent public art, all under the theme of “Passagewaysâ€. Art Souterrain has been expanding the number and volume of projects every year, to now in its fourth edition it covers over seven kilometers of underpass, with invited artists from as far as Paris and Calgary. Here are some works that caught our imagination.
Mathieu Grenier “Dans le Cube Blanc (O’Doherty) / Inside the White Cube”
Nathalie Quagliotto “Maturity Bend”
Continue reading “Art Marathon: Art Souterrain 2012”
Michelle Deignan: Posing as a Subject Amongst Subjects
at Maria Stenfors, London
16 July – 29 October 2011
Michelle Deignan “Microphone” (2008) Unique lambda print. Courtesy of the artist and Maria Stenfors.
Michelle Deignan’s London solo exhibition at Maria Stenfors Gallery entitled “Posing as a Subject Amongst Subjects†incorporates video installation, 16 mm film projection and photography. The installation occupies most of the exhibition space, Journey to an Absolute Vantage Point (2011) fits a two-channel video work onto a double-sided screen projection, the back-to-back videos playing off each other in treatment and in form. One side proffers a black-and-white violin, cello and piano trio performing the soundtrack of Deignan’s installation, while the other projection presents a postcard-like color shot of Berlin’s Schloss Charlottenburg (Charlottenburg Palace) and its surroundings, the scene of the story unfolding herein.
Continue reading “Review: Michelle Deignan- Journey to an absolute vantage point”
“Untitled” (2009) from the series “Illuminance”. Courtesy of the artist © Rinko Kawauchi
Rinko Kawauchi (b. Shiga, Japan, 1972) was one of 25 artists showing at Le Mois de la Photo in Montreal in September 2011, this year themed around Lucidity – Inward Views. Kawauchi is renowned for the glowing translucence of her photography, often taken in soft focus and subtly tinted colours to draw us in a state of waking dream.
From a corner of the vast opening reception, Kawauchi stood aloof with her tripod and camera, documenting curious and mesmerised audiences as they were feasting on her first exhibition in Montréal. Guest curator Anne-Marie Ninacs temporarily partitioned the “Arsenalâ€, Le Mois de la Photo’s main venue, to provide a separate room for each of the eight artists showing in its grand hall. Ninacs designed every artist space differently, and for Kawauchi she fashioned a small cornering area so people could experience her work more intimately. “It is just about the size of my darkroom†explained the Japanese photographer, on how she found it comfortable and familiar.
Continue reading “Interview: Rinko Kawauchi – Capturing moments in a constant present”
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 Breakâ€, 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.
Currently On View: Montréal
Galerie de l’UQAM. Curated by Bruce Grenville.
26th Feb 2011 – 16th April 2011
“Rise and Fall†(2009) courtesy of the artist and Frith Street Gallery
Fiona Tan’s exhibition “Rise and Fall†has started its journey from Aargauer Kunsthaus, Switzerland, via Vancouver Art Gallery, Freer & Sackler Gallery in Washington DC and it is currently on view at Galerie de UQAM as its final tour date.