Main Tabs

21.11.14

ÉGRÉGORE: YVES LAROCHE


Égrégore at Galérie d'Art Yves Laroche was a jam packed crazy confluence of all sorts of styles, artists, mediums and messages.  And somehow it all worked together: the lowbow, the pop surrealism, the graffiti or street art influenced and the classically trained brought forth a dynamic show that will be on Yves Laroche's walls until the 20th of December.
Click on the photo above to learn about the word "égrégore" or to marvel at the insane work of AJ Fosik's Nighttide for Idols (2012)

I checked out the show during the opening and will share a handful of faves here, but the show is massive! Worth an in-person visit, unless you can't make it/feeling lazy you can check out the online visit and start picking out works that will look great above your sofa.

Whoa! Upon walking into the gallery Dave Cooper's bronze Crittergirl (2014) is the first work that greets you.

Two beauties by Miss Van: Diablada (2014) and Lady Blue (2014)

Jeff Soto's Man (2014)

Ok, this piece isn't from Égrégore, but from the adjacent gallery Lacerte, whose space we ambled through during the opening.  Jean-Robert Drouillard's Mini Love Louve (2014) is barely a foot tall and was sitting on the floor.  I crouched down trying to take this image, causing another art reveler to almost trip over me.  Art party!

Back to the show! The insane awesome cardboard sculpture work of Laurence Vallières


Liam Barr's Wed to the Wheel (2014)

An Immaculate Conception (2014) by artist and friend Kevin Ledo.  I've had the pleasure of sharing gallery wall space with Ledo in the past and have seen his work evolve over the years, but still remaining distinct in his figurative style. We chatted about this evolution and getting ethereal with gold foil.

Regarding your new works (Arsenal, Yves Laroche, Muralfest) portraiture always remains strong and present and dominantly women, but recently you have integrated elderly faces and men, where did this direction come from?

I never really planned this progression, though I've been wanting to explore some new subjects and themes. Once I began painting murals I found that it was the perfect outlet for it.

The use of gold foil is consistent in your work and it first appeared as glowing halos in your Guiding Light (2006-10) series.  How has the use of the foil evolved and what does it represent to you now?

It still represents an ethereal energy in my recent work.  It is still speaking some of the same language that it did for me in older paintings, though it's not literally a halo anymore.

Any words you can share about you work in Égrégore?

That piece, like most of my recent work, wasn't planned to convey any particular idea before I began working on it.  I just went on feeling and a vague direction and then began understanding what it was about more and more as it progressed.  I titled it "An Immaculate Conception" because it seemed to me that that was what it was about.  There is a clear religious reference there, and the fact that it's "An Immaculate Conception" and not "The Immaculate Conception" plays with ideas surrounding Christian beliefs and how similar story lines were told in religions before Christianity existed."

Voilà, a little art insight for the day.  
These works and so much more on Yves Laroche's walls until December 20th.

12.11.14

Les HTMlles: White Sugar

I have a soft spot for Francesca Fini's White Sugar (2013), one of the programmed shorts during the Mad Parade at GIV.  In my own art practice collage is my medium of choice either via Photoshop or scissors and glue; so I naturally gravitated towards Fini's work.  Utilizing 3D techniques and archival footage Fini recontextualizes the cultural expectations and pressures of women.

More words and images here.

9.11.14

Les HTMlles: Prendre le pouls

Les HTMlles is underway! The festival held its opening festivities at Studio xx last night, unveiling multiple exhibits in the festival's headquarters and in the adjacent spaces of OBORO and GIV.

Off-site at La Centrale, Prendre le pouls by Marlène Renaud-B. has been open for the past week.  Take a peek here for some teaser images.  There will be an artist talk this Thursday to learn more about the intriguing work.

7.11.14

Tanya Tagaq - Animism

Many moons ago I was introduced to the person and the music of Tanya Tagaq, an artist who created her own solo form of Inuit throat singing which is traditionally performed by two women.  It was a fall evening and Tanya stepped onto the stage, barefoot and very pregnant surrounded by two musicians, violinist Jesse Zubot and percussionist Jean Martin.  Tanya spoke softly welcoming the audience to the continuous set, as if to prepare us for what was to come.

I had been told that a show of Tanya Tagaq was "intense" and I am admittedly pretty sensitive, but from that spoken introduction came a spectrum of sounds that hit me straight in the chest and rearranged my insides.  Almost as soon as the music and vocals reached me, involuntary bio/physiological reactions were taking place, I was instantly tearing up and trying to visualize rainbows and puppies to calm down.
Whew.... that...was...raw.
Did I mention intense?

photo: Jenn McInnis

Tagaq's Animism recently won the 2014 Polaris Music Prize and the tour will touch down in Montreal a sold-out show in Montreal at the Centre Phi tomorrow night.  I had a chance to exchange some words with violinist Jesse Zubot about Polaris aftermath and what we can expect at tomorrow's show.

Have you felt a change in the response to the band since winning the Polaris Prize?

Yes, a change in response to the shows with Tanya has definitely happened since the Polaris Prize scenario...all of a sudden Tanya can barely open her mouth without all the press in Canada freaking out.  Also, every show we've done in Canada since has been sold out and we are even having a hard time getting our close friends into some of the shows!!  It seems like people are now listening to the music on a higher, more concentrated level to everything that goes down, so we have to be in top form!

You mentioned in an earlier correspondence that you were going to do a hardcore show.  Were you being serious?! What can Montreal expect at the Centre Phi show?

Hardcore show!!  Well, that just means a 'no holds barred' full-on smash-in-the-face vibes...There will be some moments of serenity and calmness, but in general the show will probably be very emotional, aggressive and hopefully transcending in some way.  We usually play about 70 minutes with no stopping to create trance-like vibes.

Thanks to Jesse Zubot for the warning.  I'll be the one in the corner crying with kleenex.