En Masse - Full Circle

Was it only yesterday that En Masse has a mega coming out party that epic Nuit Blanche at Galerie Pangée?
Hella no!!
This ever morphing collective art project celebrated their five years with a big birthday party- Station16 styles.  Have you ever seen a vernissage with a line up? Me neither, at least until this night came along.  So a toast to En Masse for blowing up and bringing this crazy, black and white collab party to the Montreal masses (and beyond)!

 

 happy art goers

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wall detail-so much to see

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love this, will take a print please

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last look-installation view

ALLKIN:Jason Botkin, LNDMRK

Jason Botkin, Galerie Yves Laroche, LNDMRK ( some members formally of Safewalls), and Station16 have come together to throw down ALLKIN, the second show to take place at Projet Beaumont after the inaugural INSA show in August of last year. Phew! That's a lot of links yo.  I asked Botkin how this exhibit came to fruition with the the many minds invovled:

"I've had the pleasure to work with the guys of LNDMRK many times in the past through the EN MASSE project. [...] They are very active members of Montreal's artistic community, from an underground arts perspective. I was thrilled when they approached me to take part in this new initiative with them...a rare opportunity for me to settle down for a bit and focus on my own shit!! "

Yeah! Lots of love here. Let's get to the art now!

As a highly anticipated show, the opening was packed with parka covered art goers checking out the large scale masks, prints, and one giant-all in brilliant technicolour. The show veered away from Botkin's signature black and white palette which has characterized not only his work for the past ten years but also recalls his work as one of the founders of En Masse.

Being greeted by a gaping mouth

installation view, Botkin's wild oversized masks

While whimsical and slightly creepy upon first glance, when I learned that the large faces on the walls were indeed "masks" I was curious about what these figures represented. A few words from the artist:

"Masks, marionettes, and puppets intrigue me enormously. I've always been drawn to these theatrical artifacts. They are interesting ways of addressing identity, acting as ‘second skins’. [...]  Masks are tools which enable us to change identities and assume new personalities. I think we all feel a deep need to change ourselves and the environment around us. I guess these works allow me a chance to offer up a different sense of my ‘self’. Not necessarly a 'truer' sense, but one that is at least often hidden away from sight. "

yeah, even the floor is awesome

Adam from station16 giving me the EV (edition variant) print tour-thanks!

the colourful and sinewy giant

paint on wood detail

party bonus! pop on those 3D glasses and watch the colours closest to magenta and cyan come out at you!

Want to know more? Lots of love here and here.
Get your art on! Until the 29th of March (so no excuses!)

DJAB x En Masse

Your favourite art collective and mine (with love here), En Masse have been getting busy.  In fact they've been blowing up since their giant coming out party during Nuit Blanche that February of 2009.  More recently, members of the collective have returned to lend their artistic hands to La Maison Simons' streetwear division DJAB for their spring 2013 campaign.  Given the direction of a Japanime/manga smorgasbord, the artists veered from their characteristic black and white images to throw down a very colourful mural.

a composite of the mural (can you see the seam?)

RRAWR! Godzilla battle for Tokyo

Not quite Hello Kitty

Treeline

Detail: steady hands, steady circles

Anyone remember the DJAB Escape Artist series?  It was a limited edition series of t-shirts designed by serveral grafitti/lowbrow/street artists back in 2008.  Many of these artists have also contributed their talent on En Masse walls. It all comes full circle sometimes...

En Masse Salon Masse

Your favourite art collective and mine, En Masse, presented individual works at the show Salon Masse at Galerie Pangée.  It was a great opportunity to see the different styles, approaches and techniques of the artists, but I think I got there before the tags went up and wasn't able to identify most of the art.  Below are some images from the opening night and some of my favourite pieces from the show.

 Signage and vernissage detritus.

A canvas by (?) in the black and white En Masse styleeeeze.

 

I love this piece! The portrayal of the classic casse-croute/snack bar/fast food joint signage says: 'dead meat.'  The paint/collage on wood panel was pretty awesome too! Feel free to clue me in, if you know who are the artists.  *update: casse-croute=earthcrusher, rad*

I would like this on my wall please.  I can sense a return visit to the gallery...

In the category of: 'I wish I had an empty corner in my flat to put a giant can of maple syrup' is this amazing piece by whatisadam. 

I wish, I wish, I wish...

A view of the salon hanging of the works on the wall.

Kevin Ledo

That's it, I've been immortalized! Forever young (ish)!

Kevin Ledo is a friend and artist whom I've had the pleasure of exhibiting with in several group shows has painted a small series of portraits of yours truly.

So that's me in paint!
Kevin Ledo is a Montreal based artist whose work focuses on beauty and religious iconography and  has been exhibited and featured in a whole slew of places and spaces, from Belgium to Ucluelet, from Juxtapoz Magazine to Cool Hunting and is part of my favourite collective En Masse. 

For those of you who will be in Vancouver, BC during the month of April, Ledo will be showing new works at the Ayden Gallery.  Get your art on!

Décover #15

This past weekend was Décover magazine's issue 15 launch party, in the stunning Église Sainte-Brigide.
Inspiration for live painting was provided by the scantily clad ladies of Monde Osé.  The paintings were then auctioned off to an eager crowd.

Above is a collaborative piece by the some of the fine folk from En Masse.

The happy bunch after the completed sale.

Cease Holiday Flea Market - Fresh Paint Gallery

"Better late than never," I said to Sterling Downey, the brains behinds the Under Pressure Fresh Paint pop-up gallery, as I walked into the space for the first time since it's opening in August of this year.  The gallery's semi-dilapidated charm was playing host to the multidisciplinary Arab Winter exhibit and the Cease Holiday Flea Market.  Scroll down, I'd like to share some art for sale with you.

Our favouritre art collective En Masse was representing with some prints documenting their awesome contribution to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' Big Bang exhibit.

Other eye-catching prints at the sale were the graphic imagery (and jewelry!) by Curse of the Multiples, illustrations by Regimental Oneton, and vintage style pop art by Antoine Tavaglione. I did not leave empty-handed, as I picked up one of Antoine's prints for my flat-I will concentrate more on Christmas shopping soon enough...