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Current exhibitions
Révélations January 12 - February 27, 2010
Aniconia January 12 - February 27, 2010
La fin d'un arc-en-ciel January 12 - February 27, 2010
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Rental Galleries (2nd floor)
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Révélations January 12 - February 27, 2010
“The object is here, but its outline is uncertain.” (Alexis Pernet, Révélations, 2009) In Revelations, Beaulieu presents an installation of moving shadows that seemingly want to extract themselves from the objects that retain them. Flooded with light, the animated sculptures and digital images of landscape fragments reveal their fleeting shadows. Observing the shifts in location, form and meaning that the landscape undergoes as a result of his various manipulations, Patrick Beaulieu attempts to affect the very nature of objects, putting their frailty to the test. His work involves multimedia techniques (sculpture, photography, video, Web) as well as live interventions directly inspired by the communities where he chooses to enact his poetic gestures. Beaulieu’s installations have been shown in Singapore (Plastic Kinetic Worms, 2001 and 2006), Korea (Gwangjiu Biennale, 2002), Mexico (Nina Menocal Gallery, Centro de la imagen at the National Center for the Art, 2004 and 2006), Belgium (Experimental Intermedia vzw, 2005) and in several exhibitions in Canada (CIRCA exhibition center, Art Mûr Gallery, Darling Foundry and others). He is currently working on The Monarch Vector, a multimedia expedition exploring the notions of migration and transmigration, portions of which was presented in 2007-8 at the Banff New Media Institute (Alberta, Canada), at the EstNordEst artist-run centre (Québec, Canada), at the University of Nashville (Tennessee, U.S.A.) and at the Alfredo Zalce Contemporary Art Museum (Morelia, Mexico) in 2009.
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Patrick Beaulieu
Patrick Beaulieu
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Aniconia January 12 - February 27, 2010
Text by Sarah Wilkinson
Colleen Wolstenholme’s work has the ability to engage and provoke viewers by piquing the social conscious. She’s a prolific artist with of an impressive oeuvre of intriguing art works ranging in mediums including jewellery, painting, sculpture, embroidery and digital collage. She is perhaps most well known for her jewellery and oversized plaster cast sculptures of pharmaceutical drugs. Her 2003 work entitled Spill commands attention both because the plaster casts are large (19" x 12" x 9") and because the artist utilizes recognizable forms. Their sheer size addresses the stigma attached to anti-anxiety and antidepressant medication. Narcotics are omnipresent within contemporary society, and are a politically charged topic, a fact the artist makes no bones about. In Spill, the pills first appear minimalist, however upon further inspection one is able to discern otherwise. Each piece is imbued with the personal act of labour. It is easily recognizable in the way each curve and shape is painstakingly rendered with such attention to detail. These works challenge the way that drug companies market pills to solve everything while side effects often leave their consumers numb and emotionally inept. In the past, Wolstenholme has been ordered, by law firms representing pharmaceutical companies, to cease producing these works due to trademark infringement. However there appears to be a larger issue at stake than design appropriation. Wolstenholme is an artist who is treading into a territory that is thought to be exclusively for the scientific elite. These attempts to regulate her work can be seen as evidence of its powerful effect. By offering up larger than life pills to her viewers, she is forcing the viewer to contemplate the pills’ substance before swallowing. This tactic is sure to elicit a provocative dialogue about the way in which these pills are so readily available, and perhaps more importantly, how these pills are being prescribed at disproportionate rates to women, a fact that may allude to the dominant structures’ desire to suppress and numb women in today’s society. The oppression and subjugation of women by culture, religion and state is an underlying concern in all of Wolstenholme’s works. This underlying power structure is often dictated by men. This male dominance still exists even in the so-called post-feminist era. This and That (2003) juxtaposes the figures of a nun and a woman in a burqa. These particular miniature casts illustrate fashion’s contribution to the oppression of women. It remarks on concealment in society which results in a suppression of the individual for the sakes of the collective identity. The artist utilizes camouflage to allude to this type of societal concealment rather than disguise it. Wolstenholme’s works are a tangible and non-apologetic thrust of relevant social issues from behind a veil. This veil of secrecy operates on a ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ basis. Not only is this artist telling all, but she opens up a dialogue and encourages everyone to participate. http://www.colleenwolstenholme.com/
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Colleen Wolstenholme
Colleen Wolstenholme
Colleen Wolstenholme
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La fin d'un arc-en-ciel January 12 - February 27, 2010
Text by Mike Patten
All that glitters is not gold The song Over the Rainbow (1939), from the movie Wizard of Oz, was considered an anthem for hope after the great depression but in recent years an increasing number of people have lived beyond their means and lost faith in this American Dream. From housing boom to subprime bust, the whirlwind of the current global financial crisis has reminded us of the shaky ground our financial institutions are built upon. These events relate well to Simon Bilodeau’s installation in the gallery window. Surrounded by white plaster diamonds and debris, his work features a broken rainbow, left in ruins, like a fallen city or empire, devoid of color. The interior however shines brightly with mirrored glass, which may signify that happiness comes from within and not from some faraway place. This could also be seen as an ornament to celebrate the true spirit of the holiday season.
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Simon Bilodeau
Simon Bilodeau |
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