Manoeuvres/Maniobres
29 May - 23 Sep 2009
MANOEUVRES/MANIOBRES
from 29/05/09 to 23/09/09
BGL, Catherine Bolduc, Michel de Broin, Jérôme Fortin, Ed Pien and Jana Sterbak
Curator: Natasha Hébert
In its original sense of working something by hand in a generally complex and often dextrous and skilful way, a manoeuvre is a committed physical action requiring discipline and concentration. Demanding more than a simple, direct action, a manoeuvre dodges pitfalls, avoids obstacles and, depending on its needs, makes use of illusion and disguise. We also have “room for manoeuvre”, which can be likened to a game of chance: it demands space for freedom within a setting, or space that can be used to change plans – to manoeuvre in a different way – if the result is considered to be unsatisfactory or if we change our minds.
As earnest as children at play, “Manoeuvres” artists manoeuvre in their respective universes. While employing dexterity and skill to work everyday objects by hand, including humble, recycled and building materials, the artists maliciously turn the meanings and uses of those objects on their heads.
Their manoeuvres suggest an illusion of metamorphosis and fill us with awe.
They turn objects into something different and make the most of their "room for manoeuvre". Folded papers become kimonos, stools are cakes, bikes take puffs of smoke and monsters come out of wardrobes.
Midway between modern art and craftwork, fuelled by a contemporary, conceptual language and making use of techniques like DIY, recycling, shaping, handling and accumulation, “Manoeuvres” opens the doors to diverse, imaginary, sensual and fun universes. This exhibition proposes a reflection on parallel artistic practices that are controlled, fertile and alive. It presents a way of doing things that flees from ‘ready-made’ or conceptual art and returns to manual work guided by the personal vision of the artist, who returns to the components of creativity, shrewdness and recreation. The exhibition tries to reintroduce the idea of artwork that refers to itself, is independent in terms of the way it communicates, is manually worked and bears distinct traces of personal and creative research. In addition, it reintroduces the idea of artwork that can be understood beyond the boundaries of any school of thought, culture, nation or language.
Catherine Bolduc (Magog, 1970) lives and works in Montreal. She theatricalises the way in which individuals perceive and construct reality by applying her personal desires to them. These desires transgress that reality by creating ‘awe-inspiring’ things. The pleasure of aesthetic illusion and the inevitable onslaught of disillusion are experienced through the production of large installations and drawings. Bolduc has taken part in several exhibitions and residencies in Quebec and Europe, including the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (2007-2008).
BGL: Jasmin Bilodeau (Quebec, 1973), Nicolas Laverdière (Quebec, 1972) and Sébastien Giguère (Quebec, 1972) are renowned for their explosive, disconcerting installations and their humorous public interventions. BGL conceives personal universes that straddle the reference points of contemporary culture’s context and the nostalgic images of a past that is still present. They have taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions, especially in Canada and Latin America. Their works form part of several Canadian public collections.
Michel de Broin (Montreal, 1970) lives and works in Montreal and Berlin. He tries to flee from the intrinsic demands of modern utopian ideas; he uses a set of objects and actions through which he diverts the meaning, the aim and the theme, and reactivates them in a fun yet perturbing way. De Broin has taken part in numerous group and solo exhibitions, public art events and residencies, both in Canada and Europe, including the Fondation Christoph Merian in Basle (2001) and the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (2005-2006). He has received the Pierre-Ayot award (2002) and the Sobey award (2007).
Jérôme Fortin (Joliette, 1971) lives and works in Montreal. He revives handmade art and time spent meticulously on the construction and the contemplative organisation of a number of objects made from humble, banal materials. Fortin evokes the art of poetry in the simplest of things and of beauty in repetitive gestures, contrasting sharply with a world in which strong sensations are generally the goal. Fortin's work has been presented at several museums and foundations in Canada, Europe, Latin America and Japan. He has taken part in several residencies and has received the Pierre-Ayot award (2004).
Ed Pien (Taipei, Taiwan, around 1959) lives and works in Toronto. He uses his culture, midway between East and West, to produce artwork from drawings and cuttings, inhabited by mythical Western monsters and Asian phantoms. Characters that are both men and animals, mutated, deformed and twisted, who talk about difference, about uniqueness and about the exotic and scary Other. Pien has exhibited in Canada, the United States, Latin America and Europe, and his works form part of large public collections.
Jana Sterbak (Prague, 1955) lives and works in Montreal and Paris. She creates disturbing links and questions the obviousness of issues connected with the body, the aim of which is to expand the realms of experimentation in terms of physicality, identity and spirituality. Her aesthetic research is accompanied by diverse processes and experimentation with materials which, as subjectivities, embody both the shape and the discourse. Sterbak's international career is impressive. She represented Canada at the Venice Biennale in 2003. Her work has had a fundamental impact on the development of contemporary art in Quebec and Canada over the last 20 years.
Natasha Hébert, of Canadian origin, is a freelance contemporary art critic, writer and exhibition curator. As an overseas correspondent, her articles have been published in the Canadian magazines EspaceSculpture, Vie des Arts and ESSE Art + Opinions, and the newspaper La Presse. She has also produced several publications and exhibition catalogues.
The curator and the artists would like to thank the Galeria Toni Tàpies for its generous support for this exhibition, as well as the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Bureau du Québec à Barcelone. Thanks, then, to Cèlia, Ane, Sergi, Toni, Joan Roma, Maria-Jesus Bronchal and Pierre-François Ouellette at the PFOAC gallery in Montreal, and the magazines EspaceSculpture and Canadian Art.
from 29/05/09 to 23/09/09
BGL, Catherine Bolduc, Michel de Broin, Jérôme Fortin, Ed Pien and Jana Sterbak
Curator: Natasha Hébert
In its original sense of working something by hand in a generally complex and often dextrous and skilful way, a manoeuvre is a committed physical action requiring discipline and concentration. Demanding more than a simple, direct action, a manoeuvre dodges pitfalls, avoids obstacles and, depending on its needs, makes use of illusion and disguise. We also have “room for manoeuvre”, which can be likened to a game of chance: it demands space for freedom within a setting, or space that can be used to change plans – to manoeuvre in a different way – if the result is considered to be unsatisfactory or if we change our minds.
As earnest as children at play, “Manoeuvres” artists manoeuvre in their respective universes. While employing dexterity and skill to work everyday objects by hand, including humble, recycled and building materials, the artists maliciously turn the meanings and uses of those objects on their heads.
Their manoeuvres suggest an illusion of metamorphosis and fill us with awe.
They turn objects into something different and make the most of their "room for manoeuvre". Folded papers become kimonos, stools are cakes, bikes take puffs of smoke and monsters come out of wardrobes.
Midway between modern art and craftwork, fuelled by a contemporary, conceptual language and making use of techniques like DIY, recycling, shaping, handling and accumulation, “Manoeuvres” opens the doors to diverse, imaginary, sensual and fun universes. This exhibition proposes a reflection on parallel artistic practices that are controlled, fertile and alive. It presents a way of doing things that flees from ‘ready-made’ or conceptual art and returns to manual work guided by the personal vision of the artist, who returns to the components of creativity, shrewdness and recreation. The exhibition tries to reintroduce the idea of artwork that refers to itself, is independent in terms of the way it communicates, is manually worked and bears distinct traces of personal and creative research. In addition, it reintroduces the idea of artwork that can be understood beyond the boundaries of any school of thought, culture, nation or language.
Catherine Bolduc (Magog, 1970) lives and works in Montreal. She theatricalises the way in which individuals perceive and construct reality by applying her personal desires to them. These desires transgress that reality by creating ‘awe-inspiring’ things. The pleasure of aesthetic illusion and the inevitable onslaught of disillusion are experienced through the production of large installations and drawings. Bolduc has taken part in several exhibitions and residencies in Quebec and Europe, including the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (2007-2008).
BGL: Jasmin Bilodeau (Quebec, 1973), Nicolas Laverdière (Quebec, 1972) and Sébastien Giguère (Quebec, 1972) are renowned for their explosive, disconcerting installations and their humorous public interventions. BGL conceives personal universes that straddle the reference points of contemporary culture’s context and the nostalgic images of a past that is still present. They have taken part in numerous solo and group exhibitions, especially in Canada and Latin America. Their works form part of several Canadian public collections.
Michel de Broin (Montreal, 1970) lives and works in Montreal and Berlin. He tries to flee from the intrinsic demands of modern utopian ideas; he uses a set of objects and actions through which he diverts the meaning, the aim and the theme, and reactivates them in a fun yet perturbing way. De Broin has taken part in numerous group and solo exhibitions, public art events and residencies, both in Canada and Europe, including the Fondation Christoph Merian in Basle (2001) and the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (2005-2006). He has received the Pierre-Ayot award (2002) and the Sobey award (2007).
Jérôme Fortin (Joliette, 1971) lives and works in Montreal. He revives handmade art and time spent meticulously on the construction and the contemplative organisation of a number of objects made from humble, banal materials. Fortin evokes the art of poetry in the simplest of things and of beauty in repetitive gestures, contrasting sharply with a world in which strong sensations are generally the goal. Fortin's work has been presented at several museums and foundations in Canada, Europe, Latin America and Japan. He has taken part in several residencies and has received the Pierre-Ayot award (2004).
Ed Pien (Taipei, Taiwan, around 1959) lives and works in Toronto. He uses his culture, midway between East and West, to produce artwork from drawings and cuttings, inhabited by mythical Western monsters and Asian phantoms. Characters that are both men and animals, mutated, deformed and twisted, who talk about difference, about uniqueness and about the exotic and scary Other. Pien has exhibited in Canada, the United States, Latin America and Europe, and his works form part of large public collections.
Jana Sterbak (Prague, 1955) lives and works in Montreal and Paris. She creates disturbing links and questions the obviousness of issues connected with the body, the aim of which is to expand the realms of experimentation in terms of physicality, identity and spirituality. Her aesthetic research is accompanied by diverse processes and experimentation with materials which, as subjectivities, embody both the shape and the discourse. Sterbak's international career is impressive. She represented Canada at the Venice Biennale in 2003. Her work has had a fundamental impact on the development of contemporary art in Quebec and Canada over the last 20 years.
Natasha Hébert, of Canadian origin, is a freelance contemporary art critic, writer and exhibition curator. As an overseas correspondent, her articles have been published in the Canadian magazines EspaceSculpture, Vie des Arts and ESSE Art + Opinions, and the newspaper La Presse. She has also produced several publications and exhibition catalogues.
The curator and the artists would like to thank the Galeria Toni Tàpies for its generous support for this exhibition, as well as the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Bureau du Québec à Barcelone. Thanks, then, to Cèlia, Ane, Sergi, Toni, Joan Roma, Maria-Jesus Bronchal and Pierre-François Ouellette at the PFOAC gallery in Montreal, and the magazines EspaceSculpture and Canadian Art.