Currently on view: Montréal
Summertime In Paris at Parisian Laundry
23 June – 30 July 2011
Luc Paradis “Stick Out There” (2010) oil on canvas, 60 x 84”. Courtesy of the artist and Parisian Laundry
Parisian Laundry is now showing its annual summer exhibition entitled “Summertime In Parisâ€, double Dutch busted with generous servings of themes: “Kindling†and “Post-Newâ€. Five artists from Canada and America have been selected this way to spark a fire from beyond the realms of novelty.
“New†has long been overused as an adjective and oversaturated the pages of art press releases for decades. Lost in its significance and barely identifiable, art audiences still irresistibly seek newness, almost as a reflex behavior. Parisian Laundry fuses this with an equally vacuous term to create “post-newâ€, a humorous neologism that perhaps will ignite the whimsical attitudes of Summertime in Paris artists.
Luc Paradis creates uncanny and fantastical scenery in his paintings, such as “Stick It Out There†(2010), its undulating mountains and valleys, coveting a factory-like building alone by the cliff of a fictional wilderness. “Pleasure Park†(2011) also depicts a fun place to go to, with the familiar theme park attractions teasing our desire to take on a ride. But the surroundings of the park are submerged in darkness, tensing up the atmosphere as if an undetected danger was about to pounce and shatter an innocent moment of glee.
Continue reading “Review: Parisian Laundry’s New Post-New summer show”