| Dates: | PART 1: May 1 to June 1, 2013 | Opening and Book Launch: Tuesday, April 30, at 6 p.m. | |
| PART 2: June 7 to July 6, 2013 | Opening and Virtual Exhibition Announcement: Thursday, June 6, at 6 p.m. | ||
MONTREAL, April 9, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - The Painting Project. A Snapshot of Painting in Canada opens on April 30 at Galerie de l'UQAM. Unique for the diversity of recent works on display, the exhibition testifies to the intense activity taking place in painters' studios all across Canada. The works by 60 artists were selected after two years of research. The project also includes a virtual exhibition, which will be launched in fall 2013 to give the national and international public access to a lively, prolific art scene. The project has been curated by Julie Bélisle, with Louise Déry acting as general curator. Many of the artists will be in attendance at both openings.
The exhibition
The entire process of preparing The Painting Project - its unusual depth and scope, measure of risk, methodological difficulties and complex logistics - confirmed our hunch that such an initiative was essential, for it would enable the generation of new knowledge and provide an updated view of Canadian painting as it is being practised at the present time. It might seem surprising that a university gallery should consider such an enterprise, but as an institution of learning committed to disseminating information, the Galerie de l'UQAM exercises and promotes a mandate of active research. The idea of undertaking a huge project on painting grew out of the chance to put together an exhibition for the Virtual Museum of Canada. Although this type of platform may not allow for examining a subject in-depth, it is ideal for exploring and interpreting broad thematic currents for the wider public.
The preparation and coordination of the gallery and the virtual exhibitions were entrusted to Julie Bélisle, with the collaboration of Marie-Eve Beaupré in developing the ideas and selecting the artists. In order to make the selection of 60 artists, they visited studios, galleries, museums and art fairs, studied some 500 artist files, and consulted a committee of Canadian experts. The results of these efforts are presented in two parts:
| PART 1 | ||||||
| Hugo Bergeron (QC) | Michael Dumontier & | Jessica Korderas (NS) | Kent Monkman (ON) | |||
| Marie-Claude Bouthillier (QC) | Neil Farber (MB) | Gwenessa Lam (BC) | Tim Moore (SK) | |||
| Tammi Campbell (SK) | Graham Gillmore (BC) | Stéphane La Rue (QC) | Paul P. (ON) | |||
| Thomas Chisholm (BC) | Cynthia Girard (QC) | Maclean (QC) | Brad Phillips (ON) | |||
| Louis-Philippe Côté (QC) | Clint Griffin (ON) | Jason McLean (ON) | Team Macho (ON) | |||
| DaveandJenn (AB) | Dil Hildebrand (QC) | Christine Major (QC) | Julie Trudel (QC) | |||
| Pierre Dorion (QC) | Daniel Hutchinson (ON) | Sandra Meigs (BC) | Carol Wainio (ON) | |||
| Mario Doucette (NB) | Wanda Koop (MB) | Chris Millar (AB) | ||||
| PART 2 | ||||||
| Melanie Authier (ON) | Kim Dorland (ON) | Jean-François Lauda (QC) | Wil Murray (AB) | |||
| Mike Bayne (ON) | Pierre Durette (QC) | Norma Jean MacLean (PE) | Ben Reeves (BC) | |||
| Simon Bilodeau (QC) | Dorian FitzGerald (ON) | Elizabeth McIntosh (BC) | Francine Savard (QC) | |||
| Jack Bishop (NS) | Sky Glabush (ON) | Michael Merrill (QC) | Justin Stephens (QC) | |||
| Jérôme Bouchard (QC) | Kym Greeley (NL) | Shaun Morin (MB) | Beth Stuart (ON) | |||
| Anthony Burnham (QC) | Jeremy Hof (BC) | Andrea Mortson (NB) | Joseph Tisiga (YT) | |||
| Sarah Cale (ON) | Chris Kline (QC) | Ehryn Torrell (ON) | ||||
| Arabella Campbell (BC) | François Lacasse (QC) | Janet Werner (QC) |
The Catalogue
The catalogue provides a unique, masterful picture of the painting practice in Canada, and presented in four sections: Figures of Reality, grouping figurative-based approaches that build on the great painting traditions; Fictional Worlds, composed of figurative works with content either symbolic, inspired by comic strips, the media or illustration, or computer-generated; Painting as Subject, where, by means of quotation, gesture or abstraction, the "how" of painting becomes the subject matter; and Hybrid Practices, in which painting develops through contact with other artistic disciplines to produce object-paintings, text-paintings and photograph-paintings.
Bilingual and amply illustrated, the 364-page catalogue will be a major reference for seeing and understanding present-day painting in Canada. It includes essays by Julie Bélisle, Louise Déry, Robin Anthony, Robert Enright, Nicolas Mavrikakis and Jonathan Shaughnessy. It is edited by Audrey Genois and the graphic design is by Makara.
The Committees
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Michel Boulanger, artist and professor, École des arts visuels et médiatiques, UQAM, Montreal
Geneviève Goyer-Ouimette, freelance curator, Montreal
David Liss, artistic director, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto
Nicolas Mavrikakis, art critic and professor of art history, Montreal
Jonathan Shaughnessy, associate curator, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Wayne Baerwaldt, director/curator, Alberta College of Art + Design, Calgary
Ray Cronin, director, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax
Jeff Nye, program coordinator, Last Mountain Lake Cultural Centre, Regina
Ann Webb, executive director, Canadian Art Foundation, Toronto
Pan Wendt, curator, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown
Public Activities
A variety of cultural activities will be held in parallel with the exhibition, including 2 "Speed-Painting" event, artist talks and discussions, and a conversation between RBC Art Curator Robin Anthony and some of the project artists. For more information, please consult the Program of Public Activities.
Guided tour of the exhibition
Available for groups any time
Reservation required: 514-987-3000, ext. 1424, or [email protected]
Acknowledgements
The exhibition and the publication are financially supported by Virtual Museum of Canada, an initiative of the Department of Canadian Heritage, Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Canada Council for the Arts, Transit. Collectif de commissaires et de critiques indépendants and Université du Québec à Montréal.
RBC is the presenting sponsor of the exhibition
Location and hours
Galerie de l'UQAM
Judith-Jasmin Pavilion, Room J-R120
1400 Berri St. (corner Sainte-Catherine East), Montreal
Berri-UQAM metro
Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 6 p.m.
Free admission
Information
Phone: 514 987-8421
www.galerie.uqam.ca
Interviews
To schedule an interview with the artists or curators, contact Maude N. Béland at 514-987-3000, ext. 1707, or [email protected]
Press photos: http://www.salledepresse.uqam.ca/photos.html
SOURCE: UQAM
Maude N. Béland, Press Relations Officer
Press Relations and Special Events Division
Communications Service
Phone: 514 987-3000, ext. 1707
[email protected]
twitter.com/MaudeNBeland
www.salledepresse.uqam.ca
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