Marc Gauthier

The temporary exhibition The Refectory is a command of the Naval Museum of Quebec to Isabelle Laverdière. We must welcome the initiative of a military institution seeking a visual artist to create an installation to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Quebec City. This “bold” [1] gesture is placed under the sign of fraternity transcending armed conflict.

Figure 1. Isabelle Laverdière, The Refectory [view of the installation], 2008.

At first glance, hearing is stimulated to create an evanescent impression. If the floor the building is usually made up of a concrete slab, both rigid and impersonal, here it is covered with a rough wooden floor. Big plates fit roughly one in the other. Their crackles are heard as visitors walk on them, recalling the sounds that probabaly animated ships of war centuries ago. Even better, these boards are slightly mobile creating instability, just like a boat on water. To this crackling contributing to the atmosphere is added a series of marine noises. David Dandy, Martien Bélanger and Alexandre Zechariah have created the sound environment. The ensemble is serene; sound and music are not of the military type, but rather meditative.

The temporality of the exhibition is ackowledged by a significant visual element. Thus, space is closed through mobile white canvases. It is the same structure that suberbans use to protect their car from the winter weather. Instead of using walls, the artist has tended those surfaces that move following air currents. It creates a reminder of the sails of ships of past eras in a subtle way. The incongruity of the installation is also reported by a game of Chinese shadows that is created when occupants of the Naval School roam the nearbycorridors of the institution. Fragility and instability dominate the stage. Another time in space has been created with these simple tools.

Figure 2. Isabelle Laverdière, The Refectory [detail], 2008.

The use of materials from the country anchors the work in the area of Quebec City. The old speaks with the present. The boards of the floor are made of planks from a stable and the furniture is covered with wool. Opposing these warm materials are the white plastic canvas walls the the use of glowing fluorescent lights falling from the ceiling.

The facility itself is an exploration of the theme of the refectory. At the beginning, it was a place of gathering where monks took their meals in monasteries. The term then spread to designate any room where a community takes its meals. In The Refectory, Laverdière places players of the maritime history of Quebec around the central table in a continuous dialogue through time. Six pairs of captains areopposed around the St.Lawrence River. The river is represented by a central table on which are placed artifacts and contempory ceramics. The historical figures assume their presence by chairs and their silhouette is cut on a mirror. On each seat is recorded the date of an armed conflict. Behind, the silhouette of the protagonist takes place over a text in which he outlines his views on the armed conflict. In this clever game ofcorrespondences, they are no longer simply two counts of fleet clashing but rather two visions of history.

Figure 3. Isabelle Laverdière, The Refectory [detail], 2008.

The first conflict the artist refers to is the battle between Kirke and Champlain in 1629. On the table are plates from the period and a valve found on the site the Abitation of Quebec. The ceramic creations from Isabelle Laverdière are alongside these historical treasures. For the French side, she created a plate where three vessels navigate on the bottom. For the English side, the dish contains eleven ships. Laverdière reinforces the message of numerical superiority of British forces by using contemporary creativity. This game on the forces involved is present in the various conflicts illustrated. It ends in the last confrontation during the Second World War, were submarines sail through the plates.

More precisely, armed conflicts represented in exhibition occurred in 1629 (Champlain, Kirke), 1690 (Frontenac, Phips), 1711 (Walker), 1759 (Saunders and Durell, Vaudreuil) 1779 (Haldimand) and 1942 (Fortin, Hartwig). The attentive visitor will note that the aggressors and defenders are all grouped on the same side of the room. They are British nationals or Americans facing of the French and Canadians.A work of art installed in a military school can hardly evacuate propaganda. Here, it is manifested by a sense of friendship side that trenscends the conflicts. Without evacuating the historical dimension, it is surprising that the horrors of war are not even mentioned once. No death is noted among the conflicts represented. We are rather in a duel of the mind where the fight is done by using good words and flowers. In a typical example, of thirty dead of the Phips expedition, zero are reported.

Instead of the horrors of war, the emphasis is placed on a camaraderie among sailors that goes beyond war. The torpedoing of the German submarine U-877 by the St.Thomas corvette illustrates this vision. Let us briefly recall the facts. In December 1944, two Canadian vessels attacked a German ship. As the German crew was forced to throw itself in icy waters, the Canadians recovered them. A relationship of friendship grew after the war between belligerents, especially first lieutenant Stanislas Déry and Deputy Commander Peter Heisig. The exhibition ends on this idyllic note.

In the context of a command in a particular context (the 400th anniversary of its founding Quebec) by a sponsor (Naval Museum), Isabelle Laverdière manages to sail successfully in treaterous waters. She achieves a tour de force, creating an atmosphere of instability and warmth in a rigid space. The visual metaphors are supported by an original use of materials from the country. Her ceramic creations support the exhibition of historical artifacts. Standing on the border between a marketing operation and an artistic creation, The Refectory remains, despite its defects, an incursion of contemporary art at the military. If only for this last quality, this work is worth a look.

- USEFUL INFORMATION -
* The installation The Refectory by Isabelle Laverdière is presented by the Naval Museum of Quebec until Nivember 15th, 2008. [map]
 
* Admission is free.
 
* Opening hours are available by calling the Museum at (418) 694-5387. 

- NOTE -
[1] In its accompanying document, the Naval Museum says it is a first in Canada.

- BIBLIOGRAPHY -
CÔTÉ, Nathalie. « L’art contemporain chez les marins ».  Le Soleil, [online], August 9th, 2008, (page visited on August 15th, 2008).
LÉTOURNEAU, Jocelyn. Le coffre à outils du chercheur débutant. Montréal, Boréal, 2006, 266 p.
STACEY, C. P. « Phips, sir William » in Biographi.ca, [online], 2000, (page visited on August 15th, 2008). 

[L'église d'Auvers-sur-Oise, Vincent van Gogh, 1890, oil on canvas, 74x94,5 cm, Musée d'Orsay]

A selection of recent articles on computer science and art.* Researchers at Penn State analyze the patterns and geometric characteristics of van Gogh’s stroke brush to detect counterfeits. [Article]

* A new software called Zotero allows historians to classify images, web pages and texts more efficiently. Could the image of the college professor surrounded by his/her boxes of documents be soon part of… history? [Article]

* A new technique allows graphic artists to change their images to emphasize one part of the picture to guide a viewer’s attention. [Article]

* The exhibit Le Louvre à Québec [The Louvre Museum in Quebec City] now has a microsite.

* Claude Monet’s The basin of waterlilies sold for 80.5 million Canadian dollars this week. In an AFP article, printed by several newspapers across the world, the conversion from British pounds to Euros is completely crazy. Forty million pounds is equivalent to about 50 million, not 80… Jeers go to Montreal daily Le Devoir for reproducing the mistaken conversion while cheers are in order for Cyberpresse. Perhaps the agency issued a correction that was not published? More details at Le Figaro.

[newyorkcitywaterfalls.com]

* Waterfalls will flow under the Brooklyn Bridge and three other spots the East River this summer. [article]

* How to detect forgery? Easy: you just have to check for the presence or absence of nuclear isotopes caused by nuclear explosions. [article]

* Who knew that John McEnroe and Tatum O’Neal had been captured by Andy Warhol? The double portrait is on sale in London on 1st July. [see the work]

* A new copyright law could see the light of day in the USA. It would allow the reproduction of works whose authors can not be traced. In Canada, you have to go through the Copyright Board when such a case occurs to fill out an application. Board then possibly delivers a license.

* Always the same debate: one commentator finds that art is empty.

[City of Shadows, Alexey Titarenko]

* I’ve been observing these pictures from Alexey Titarenko and I don’t get tired. In his serie City of Shadows, he stretched the exposure time of his camera to catch the passage of people on his film prints. The result provides ghostly photographs where passerbies seem to leave parts of themselves behind them… [see all images]

* In computer news, Carnegie-Mellon (PA) has developed software to determine the most likely place where a photograph was taken. An algorithm is looking for similar photos on Flickr… One step closer to the recognition of images by computers. [article]

* Quebec City launched a contest for the realization of a work of contemporary art in the borough of Beauport. The work will fit a place with water jets on the avenue Royale. Budget: $ 80.000. Deadline: July 7, 2008. [details]

* Montreal daily Le Devoir reported in its weekend edition that the National Gallery of Canada could terminate its agreement with the City of Energy in Shawinigan. The budget cuts of the Conservative government would be to blame.

[Ron Mueck, Baby; source: wikipedia.org]

All the more reason to enjoy the exhibition by Ron Mueck and Guy Ben-Ner, which runs until September 1st 2008.

* Le Moulin des images [The Mill of Pictures] from Robert Lepage is projected on the mill of the Bunge in Quebec City’s port. No narrative but a series of impressions. You will find a slideshow of interest on the site of Ex Machina.

[Ex Machina]

* The Naval Museum of Quebec deserves to be better known. Located in the Old Port, it offers two exhibitions this summer. The Refectory is a work by Isabelle Laverdière which interprets exchanges that occurred between marine enemies over centuries on the St. Lawrence River. By Sea and In Stone covers the development of defensive works in the region. The exhibition is presented in collaboration with the Museum of the Royal 22nd Regiment [Citadel], the Museum of the Regiment of Voltigeurs of Quebec [Armoury; currently closed due to fire] and the Musee du Regiment de la Chaudière.

* Quebec Gold presents the works of 17 artists from the nation in Reims (France) this summer, in collaboration with L’Oeil de Poisson. Those invited are: Jean-Pierre Aubé, Mathieu Beauséjour, BGL, Sylvain Bouthillette, Michel de Broin, Cooke-Sasseville, Doyon-Rivest, Jérôme Fortin, Dominique Gaucher, Pascal Grandmaison, Isabelle Hayeur, Guillaume Lachapelle, Emmanuelle Léonard, Yann Pocreau, Yannick Pouliot, Michael A. Robinson et Ève K. Tremblay.
Note that Michel de Broin, Cooke-Sasseville, Doyon-Rivest, Isabelle Hayeur and Yannick Pouliot are also part of the Triennial of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal.

* Many works of contemporary artists were acquired by Loto-Quebec after Manif d’art 4. Works of the following artists have been acquired: Éveline Boulva, Eve Cadieux, Don Darby, Isabelle Véronique, Lucia Lefebvre, Reno Salvail, Helga Schlitter, Bill Vincent and Giorgia Volpe. Moreover, Nathalie Thibault and Cooke-Sasseville received scholarships. Note that the latter is part of the Triennial of The Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal and, as mentioned earlier, his works will be exhibited in Reims.

* The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts offers a free and individual tour next Wednesday. [details]

* In conjunction with the exhibition The Louvre in Quebec, the National Gallery of Quebec [Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec] offers free shows of the film Louvre, the visit. Performances are at 13h30 and 15h00 on the following dates:
June: 15, 18, 22 and 29
July: 2, 9, 13, 20, 23, 27 and 30
August: 3, 6, 10, 13, 20, 24, 27 and 31

* The market for contemporary sculpture continues to be strong. For example, the sculpture My Lonesome Cowboy by Takashi Murakami was sold for $ 13.5 million in May. Artprice provides a market analysis.

[Takashi Murakami, My Lonesome Cowboy, 1998, epoxy resin]

* Mexico is too small for the Guggenheim.

* Collector Charles Saatchi bought many works of three graduates in visual arts.

* Going by San Francisco? An exhibition on women Impressionists has just begun at the Museum of Fine Arts. A selection of works is available on the Museum’s Picasa account.

[Berthe Morisot, Interior, 1872, oil on canvas]

* And on a more personal note, I finished my intensive summer course in art history. Entitled Impression and Sensation: Aspects of the Artistic Subjectivity in Modern Painting in the Nineteenth Century, it was a deepening experience of landscape painting, the Impressionists and Cezanne.

Half of Quebec museums operate with a budget of less than $ 123,000.

Manif d’Art 4 draws to its end - we’re in the final sprint until Sunday.

The Museum of French America [Musée de l'Amérique-Française] presents Forgotten Presence: The Huguenots in New France until March 22, 2009.

[photo credits: Idra Labrie, Musée de l'Amérique-Française]

This week is also the good time to visit the archaeological area of the Palais in Quebec City. It is open to the public until June 13. It is on this location the Palace of the Intendant of New France was located. It is also where the first brewery operated in Quebec. The Côte du Palais draws its name from the building.

The Visionaries’ Garden [Le Potager des Visionnaires] was inaugurated this week. Charming - but I didn’t take my breath away.

Another week, another grandiose architectural project for Dubai. This week: a new amphitheatre for the opera, designed by Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher. It must be where all that money from oil is spent. [Other photos]

[Draft of a cultural centre and an opera, Dubai; Source: Dezeen Blog]

A museum guard who did not like a painting by Vija Celmin decided to cut it with a key. The act of vandalism has proved fatal to the work. The painting Night Sky # 12 was exposed in the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh.

Some gold artworks stolen from the Museum of Anthropology at the University of BC are back.

In 1957, an art gallery in California is closed by police in Los Angeles. The exhibition by Wallace Berman is considered obscene. It will be the only solo exhibition of the artist.
In 1962, Andy Warhol presents his first solo exhibition at the same place: Andy Warhol: Campbell’s Soup Cans. Five cans were sold at $ 100 each, but the owner of the gallery bought the lot to keep it intact.
Both events took place in the Ferus Gallery. Its story is told in the documentary The Cool School, which was broadcasted this week by Independent Lenses. It reruns on Vermont Public Television (WETK) (Thursday 12, 3:00; Friday, 13, 22.00) and PBS Mountain Lake (WCFE) (Sunday 15, 23:30). Set your VCRs!

The photographer Claude Dityvon died in La Rochelle.

The exhibition of contemporary art Art Basel ended with a massive crowd success: 60,000 people have passed through the doors.

A Russian billionaire decides not to sponsor a retrospective devoted to Kabakov. The event will take place anyway.

Tate Britain asks the public to help it buy an oil sketch by Rubens. The work in question, The Apotheosis of James I, is a study of the ceiling of the Banqueting House in London. It is important for some English people.

[Banqueting House; source: wikimedia.org]

* The Montréal Museum of Fine Arts offers tours of 30 minutes over lunch to discover an artist. A pleasant way to feed one’s soul. Upcoming events: 4th and 5th of June 2008 at 12.15. The artist: Jean-Paul Riopelle. [More]

* The Manif d’art 4 currently takes place in Quebec City. It takes a lot of courage and almost a survival guide to organize your activities on the website of the event. I’m still looking for a way to get a Manif card, necessary for the visit of Toi / You, la rencontre [You/You, The Encounter].

Despite these difficulties, it should be noted that the annual exhibition of visual arts students from Laval University, presented by Loto-Quebec, opens this Friday, May 30th.

* Television channel artv offers new episodes of the French series Palettes. Narrated by art historian Alain Jaubert, each episode explores the history behind a work of art that has marked Western art. If it isn’t found in the list of programs of the specialty channel, it still is worth a look, having been celebrated at the last FIFA Montreal. Being the happy owner of the 18-DVD box set, I recommend these films that are pleasantly instructive. This week: Burial at Ornans by Courbet [May 25 at 7:30, 28 / 5 3:28, 28 / 5 15:29].

[Gustave Courbet, Burial at Ornans, 1849-1850, oil on canvas, 314x663 cm, Musee d'Orsay, Paris; photographic source: Wikipedia]

* Quebec painter Claude Théberge died. The municipality of Notre-Dame-du-Lac has devoted a website to the artist.

* Record books will have to be revisited: skyscraper Burj Dubai is now the highest structure in the world. Peaking currently at 650 meters, it is expected to reach 819 meters by the end of its construction. By way of comparison, the CN Tower stretches over 553 meters [it is time to update the Web site describing it as the highest structure in the world, a title lost a few years ago ...], the 1250 René-Levesque of Montreal [IBM-Marathon] measures 230 metres and the Complex G Quebec stands at 176 meters, with the antenna.

[Burj Dubai; photographic source: Wikipedia]

* The sequel to A Night at the Museum, starring Ben Stiller, began its shooting. The action takes place at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. It is the first time in 162 years that the institution allows the use of its name in a film.

* Sir Anthony Caro, British sculptor, has be answered ‘No thank you!’ by the City of London. He offered them his most ambitious sculpture to date. Result: the work Millibank Steps is now on sale for nearly $ 5 million.

* The only complete copy of the Manuscrit du surréalisme by André Breton was sold this week for $ 5.5 million at Sotheby’s Paris. The lot included eight other manuscripts that many feared would be dispersed.

I’ve recently taken a trip to Paris. this explains the infrequent updates on the blog.

I first stopped at the Museum of Modern Art at Centre Georges Pompidou. In the large space, an oversized payer mill greets visitors. Usually, a Buddhist monk turns such an object - a smaller version — reciting a prayer. Here, the projection of the object to another level highlights the dangers of religion and politics, linking them together.

[Ehi Ehi Sina Sina, Huang Yong Ping, 2006; Photo: Marc Gauthier]

Among the exhibitions presented is the first retrospective devoted to Louise Bourgeois. It was a discovery for me. The artist offers a very personal vision over two hundred works on display. Born in 1911, living in New York since 1938, we feel a certain unease about the relationship between this artist and France. Having left the country for 70 years, is she still a French artist? As the program says by making a comparison with Marcel Duchamp, she is declared an American artist born in France. In addition to these geographical considerations, the exhibition gave me the impression of entering the head of Louise Bourgeois. In fact, when I think about it, we get no so much in her head but rather in this intimate space populated by impulses and secret desires fueled by the frustrations of childhood and repressed desires. Proposed in multi-faceted aspects (People, Places of Remembrance, …), sculptures, paintings, drawings and prints are not always accessible at first glance. I wonder what art history will make of this production.

In the permanent collection, I would like to propose “Dynamism of a car” (1912-1913) by Luigi Russolo. This work is very representative of Futurism, the Italian movement based in Milan - among other places - advocating speed to oppose the archaic past of Italy. In this sense, machines producing speed such as cars, airplanes and trains are valued. In this painting, Russolo expressed with color and lines of forces the philosophy of flow developed by Henri Bergson.

[Dynamism of a car, Luigi Russolo, 1912-1913; Photo: Marc Gauthier]

Throughout the days, other places of interest for the art historian in me have been visited. The department store Le Bon Marché was part of the tour, and not only to buy an umbrella on these rainy days in the capital. Rather, I enjoyed a visit to one of the first private places where works of art have been exposed. Thus, in the 19th century, some painters could exhibit their paintings on the top floor of the department store. The brightness was really good, which surprised me. I wonder what this place looked like 150 years ago… Today, the top floor is occupied by furniture.

[Le Bon Marché, Paris Photo: Marc Gauthier]

At the Musée d’Orsay, great paintings are always a pleasure for the eyes. I noticed details that I had never seen before. Thus, the upper left corner of the painting “The Church of Auvers”, Van Gogh swirls black and blue and makes the brush stroke very visible. For the anecdote, I will recall that this painting was acquired with the assistance of Paul Gachet and a Canadian anonymous donation in 1951.

[The Church of Auvers, Vincent Van Gogh, beginning June 1890; Photo: Marc Gauthier]

[The Church of Auvers (detail), Vincent Van Gogh, beginning June 1890; Photo: Marc Gauthier]

Orsay proposes two dialogues between works in the museum and contemporary artists. The first of those matches that I viewed was between “Showcase - Rue de Sevigne” by Bertrand Lavier and “Reading” by Manet. The touch proposed by Lavier explores the painting of Monet in a very surprising way. You feel the kinship between the two works without a sense of imitation. Coup de coeur.

[Showcase - Rue de Sevigne, Bertrand Lavier, 2005; Photo by Marc Gauthier]

[Reading, Edouard Manet, circa 1865-1867; Photo: Marc Gauthier]

[Reading (detail), Edouard Manet, circa 1865-1867; Photo: Marc Gauthier]

The other dialogue comes in a multimedia showcase. On the walls are projected words and symbols, displayed in a continuous movement and changing colors. This plays on movement, time and color reminiscent of the work on colour and light made by Impressionnists. It is the dialogue between Monet and Charles Sandison. Another coup de coeur.

[Blue Water Lilies, Charles Sandison, 2007-2008; Photo: Marc Gauthier]

[Blue Water Lilies, Claude Monet, circa 1915-1920; Photo: Marc Gauthier]

Among other news worthy of mention is my disappointment not to find “The Angelus” and “Les Glaneuses” by Jean-Francois Millet. The two best-known works of the painter were on loan. This choice seems unwise. It’s as if I bought a bag containing 100 candies and I realize that it lacks two; I might be satisfied but there’s still something missing…

Also, large paintings by Courbet were being restored. The work is carried out in front of visitors. While museum professionals must feel like animals under observation, it is always pleasant to see these expert hands at work. “The workshop of the painter” by Courbet underwent at least a dozen of retouchings.

[The workshop of the painter, Courbet; Photo: Marc Gauthier]

A trip to Paris is impossible for an art historian without making a stop at 7, rue des Grands Augustins in Saint-Germain des Pres. At this address is set the action of the short story “Unknown Masterpiece” by Balzac. The story that the author tells is that of a painter who presents his masterpiece to friends. These are stunned by what they see: they do not understand the canvas which is under their eyes.

This is a literary figure of premonition because it is also at this address that Picasso settled in 1930. He painted one of its best-known paintings: Guernica.

The Museum of the Romantic Life of the city of Paris presented “The Golden Age of German Romanticism - Watercolors and Drawings at the time of Goethe.” Although I liked the place, the exhibition left me a little cold. However, it allowed to become aware of my ignorance about German art and these artists.

I also attended my first auction at the Hotel Drouot-Richelieu. A highly rewarding experience which confirms my interest in the life of the art object after its artistic creation.

As always, exhibitions at the Museum of Luxembourg are sought after by Tout-Paris. During my visit, “Vlaminck - A Fauve instinct” was running. A total success that alloed me to see many paintings of the artist in one place. There, I bought another catalogue that I will read back home!

Another artist that I do not know much was Gustave Moreau. Ingenious, he spent the last years of his life setting up a museum dedicated to his work. It was therefore a discovery of his paintings but also many drawings of this Symbolist. Only problem in the museum: many canvas proposed are those of unfinished works. Personally, I like this type of work because it helps us understand the method of work of an artist.

[Inside the Gustave Moreau museum; Photo: Marc Gauthier]

[Drawing no. 1015 (detail), Gustave Moreau; Photo: Marc Gauthier]

To be continued…

Le Devoir food columnist Philippe Mollé wrote an article last week on the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montreal. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the keys moments of the hotel were related, including the presence of a tapestry by famed Quebec artist Jean Dallaire. [ Read the column here (in French) ]

In a letter to the editor this morning, Serge G. Morin corrects some of the assertions found in Mollé’s column. Incidently, he notices that the work isn’t in fact a tapestry but rather a knotted rug. Also, it went missing when the hotel underwent renovations after Expo 67. [ Read the letter here (in French) ]

I spent two nights at the Queen E this week. After reading the Mollé column, I asked the desk to see the work of Dallaire. First, the help desk didn’t understand what I was looking for. Then, when they finally understood, they looked at me as if I’d just said that Lennon was still singing in room 1742. I finally decided to let the matter go when I was bounced off to three different staffers who didn’t have the answer.

While in Montreal, I took some time to visit the Casino where I wanted to see some works that are in the building. In particular, I was looking for a mural by Serge Lemoyne. At first, the staff of the Casino couldn’t help me. It seems I was the first one asking to see the Lemoyne mural in the 7 years the woman had been working there. Finally, with some help and a couple of telephone calls, she directed me to the buffet on the 5th floor.

On my way up, I stopped on the first floor. In the entrance hall, there are two paintings greeting visitors. I wish I could’ve written down the name of the artists but the security guard was very suspicious of me. He granted me with a “Can I help you?” that meant business. It seems not a lot of people come in this space to look at the works of art.

In the elevator that took me to the 5th floor, another employee asked if he could help me. When I told him the purpose of my visit, his look was one of disbelief. I could feel his eyes following me as I made my way to the closed buffet. But there I saw the Lemoyne mural, a very nice piece if I might say so. It livens up the environment in a bright yet subtle way. Unfortunately, a piece of equipment was put in the middle of the mural when some renovations were done after 1992.

So I ask myself: What is the purpose of public art if it isn’t put forward to the public? Isn’t that a mistake when trying to distinguish one’s business from the competitors? Even though those two buildings are not museums, isn’t it the purpose of including art on their premises to better the client’s experience? Possessing an unique work, isn’t that the best way to proclaim one’s uniqueness? Isn’t that what the Vegas casinos do in a kitschy way?

It is possible to see an old picture of the Serge Lemoyne mural on this personal Web site.

On wednesday, I took a couple of minutes and made a stop at UQAM’s Visual Arts Gallery. Since February 21st, fourteen pieces are on display in a show called Stéphane La rue, Retracer la peinture [Painting Related].

On that particular afternoon, the artist was on hand to answer questions. Friendily, he took a couple of minutes to discuss with me his work and his artistic approach. Stéphane La Rue is concerned about the material behind the material. In other words, he works on paint as matter and, from there, how he can stretch that concept.

One way of doing so is by painting in layers. Furthermore, he works mainly in white. He also paints in a serial manner. These three aspects are well presented at the show: layering, white paint, serial work.

If you wander by the gallery, take a close look at Quintette (pour Joe Maneri) [Quintet (for Joe Maneri)]. The five paintings are built around a white spot that disseminates on the surface. The brilliant whiteness slowing disappears and lets the linen canvas show. The motif is placed in a square that is a bit off when compared to the canvas.

Blancs d’ombres no 8 [Whiteness of shadows number 8] displays some work done on lightning. While the artist often layers strata, in this instance, they grow outside the canvas because of the light used. I’m not sure if it is voluntarily done in that manner but it most certainly fits the work.

The show is free. If you live in Montreal or are in town visiting, take a stroll to UQAM. The show runs until March 29th, 2008. After that, Stéphane La Rue’s artwork can be seen at Roger Bellemare’s Gallery.

More pictures can be found at UQAM’s Visual Arts Gallery.

Artwork is copyrighted Stéphane La Rue. Pictures were taken by Guy L’Heureux.

According to artprice.com, paintings associated with the narrative figuration movement are at a 10-year high.

Narrative Figuration is a French artistic movement that began in the early sixties. It was a reaction to abstract art and pop-art. One of its goals was to show the contemporary reality of the artists in a complex manner. Americans had a similar movement named New Realism by art critic Sidney Tillim.

The graph provided by the art market information site shows that some of the French artist are currently riding high on the tide. Named in the article is Jacques Monory who saw his prices jump a whopping 500% since the mid-90’s.

The exhibit Figuration narrative, Paris, 1960-1972 that’ll be showcased at the Grand Palais in Paris this summer prompted that study.

Source:

• The picture of the graph is copyrighted artprice.com.