An outstanding overview of contemporary art in Canada
June 14 to September 3, 2018
QUÉBEC CITY, June 13, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec is proud to present Fait main / Hand Made from June 14 to September 3, 2018, a major exhibition in the temporary rooms of the Pierre Lassonde Pavilion focusing on know-how and traditional practices in contemporary art with a nod to popular art, raw art, pop surrealism and technological art. The multifaceted exhibition takes a unique look at part of Canadian contemporary art output.
It is the mastery of matter that comes to the fore in this original exhibition, which assembles 100 outstanding works produced by nearly 40 Canadian artists. From Vancouver to Halifax and including Montréal, these artists from diverse backgrounds propose a wide array of practices, ranging from wood carving to quilts, not to mention ceramics and embroidery. The exhibition includes a chair sculpted from newspaper, objects covered in knitting, textile videos and 3D printing.
Five themes and five relevant perspectives
Five themes are broached in order to afford visitors a broad, diversified experience.
The artists assembled in the Making / Telling space propose remarkable aesthetics. They express themselves, by way of an example, through direct carving, pottery and cabinetmaking, seeking not so much to obey propriety as to express political, spiritual and identity-related values.
In the area devoted to Fibre Patterns, textiles transcend the private sphere and are projected into the public sphere. Quilts or knitting make it possible to weave more than just fibres and visitors will sense a gradual shift from the poetic to the political.
As for the theme Labours / Hobbies, pastimes, in reaction to the accelerated pace of our time, make it possible not only to slow down but also to achieve self-expression and communication through the creation of a handicraft object. Whether by means of puzzles or model kits, in this area certain artists achieve impressive levels of meticulousness.
Lowbrow is a pictorial movement that originated in California in the 1970s in opposition to the fine arts and affords a more irreverent breakthrough. Not all of the artists in this section explicitly claim to adhere to the Lowbrow movement, but their practices are more direct and undisciplined, mock so-called major arts categories and display a perhaps more eccentric refinement.
State-of-the-art technology transforms matter. Jacquard loom, knitting, weaving, crochet and quilts also turn to technologies and are transported by them. Technological Extensions, the fifth and final theme, assembles works supported by technology, inventive items and sophisticated do-it-yourselfery.
Artists from across Canada
The exhibition assembles 100 works by nearly 40 Canadian artists: Anne Ashton, Jonathan Bergeron, Carl Bouchard, Nathalie Bujold, Mark Clintberg, Marie Côté, Patrick Coutu, Myriam Dion, Jean-Robert Drouillard, Sébastien Duchange, Jean-Pierre Gauthier, Cynthia Girard-Renard, Carla Hemlock, Barb Hunt, Richard Kerr, Guillaume Lachapelle, Cal Lane, Guy Laramée, Maclean, Sarah Maloney, Paryse Martin, Luanne Martineau, Jean-Marc Mathieu-Lajoie, Gilles Mihalcean, Chris Millar, Mitch Mitchell, Geneviève Moisan, Didier Morelli, François Morelli, Nadia Myre, Clint Neufeld, Michael Patten, Dominique Pétrin, Olivier Roberge, Jérôme Ruby, Stephen Schofield, Brendan Lee Satish Tang, Barbara Todd and Anna Torma.
Fascinating works
Cal Lane's Gutter Snipes I (2011), is one of the fascinating works in the exhibition, which questions classes, occupations and gender. The artist uses plasma to cut out metallic objects from heavy industry, namely, a divided pipe, and transforms them into complex lace. The decorative imagery commonly associated with femininity is combined with industrial know-how usually reserved for men.
With Yesterday's Peoples, Tomorrow's King (2017-2018), Mitch Mitchell has crafted an imitation of a Louis-XVI-style chair using only pasted newsprint, compressed by means of presses and transformed into boards that are even harder than the wood fibre used to make the paper. The artist is interested, in particular, in the iconic value of the object, which takes us back to the last moments of the monarchy before the French Revolution, whose impact was important because of the rapid development of the print media.
Récits lacrymogènes (2013) consists in a dome mounted on three feet ornamented with scrolls that holds a sphere that takes the place usually reserved for the finely carved floor globes that used to decorate bourgeois interiors. Instead of orienting our position on the Earth, Paryse Martin plunges us into a fantastic universe.
Clint Neufeld has dismantled old automobile engines then transposed each of their components by duplicating them in ceramics. The porcelain engines, coated in pastel glazes, are highlighted on chairs and sofas with evocative curves. Trailer Queen (2008) is part of the works typically linked to masculine identity and manual labour, which now metamorphose into precious objects of aesthetic contemplation
With his series Manga Ormolu, works that amalgamate the aesthetic traits of fine Ming dynasty porcelain, 18th century French chinoiseries and mecha-style robotized prostheses borrowed from Japanese anime and manga, Brendan Lee Satish Tang melds varied cultural references. His works also underpin critical discourse on cultural appropriation and fluid identity in a globalized world.
The MédiaGuide offers an original complementary adventure
Visitors who wish to enhance their visit to the exhibition can do so with the MédiaGuide. A brief introduction by Anne-Josée Lacombe, coordinator of digital mediation at the MNBAQ, launches this complementary virtual adventure that will transport visitors elsewhere, beyond the walls of the MNBAQ. Digital wizardry will, in this particular instance, enable them to visit the workshops of a dozen artists and discover their universes and the sites that led to the creation of the works presented in Fait main / Hand Made.
The exhibition catalogue
Through an abundantly illustrated catalogue, including over 100 colour photographs, designed by graphic designer Pata Macedo, readers will discover a broad array of practices, from wood carving to quilts, not to mention ceramics and embroidery. A host of works stemming from research and creation in current art, from the chair sculpted from newsprint to objects covered in knitting, textile videos and 3D printing, will set the tone in a publication that also focuses on the transformation of work, politics, labour and leisure activities.
The 208-page book includes an in-depth essay by Bernard Lamarche, Curator of Contemporary Art at the MNBAQ and exhibition coordinator, a varied portfolio highlighting the works in the exhibition, a list of the works and the biobibliographies of the artists. The publication, available at the MNBAQ bookstore-boutique and in Québec bookstores, is distributed by Dimedia, for $39.95. ISBN: 978-2-551-26283-0
Credits
Fait main / Hand Made is organized by the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. We would like to thank the Canada Council for its support. Last year, the Canada Council invested $153 million to bring art to the lives of Canadians from coast to coast.
Project Manager
Christine Conciatori
Director of Exhibitions and Mediation, MNBAQ
Curatorship
Bernard Lamarche
Curator of current Art,
(2000 to this day), MNBAQ
Scenography and Design
La Bande à Paul
Operations Manager
Yasmée Faucher, MNBAQ
Outreach Coordinator
Marie-Hélène Audet, MNBAQ
Digital mediation
Anne-Josée Lacombe, MNBAQ
The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec is a state corporation funded by the Gouvernement du Québec.
Fait main / Hand Made
Pierre Lassonde Pavilion of the MNBAQ
June 14 to September 3, 2018
SOURCE Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
For further information: 418 643-2150 or 1 866 220-2150
Share this article