MONTREAL, May 21, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Quebec artist Raphaëlle de Groot will present a new performance piece during the opening days of the Venice Biennale on May 30, 2013, at 2 p.m. (Italian time). Produced by the Galerie de l'UQAM, the project is supported by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) and is produced in collaboration with the Québec Government Office in Rome.
En exercice à Venise (In Exercice in Venice)
"This is the first time I have given myself over to such a lengthy performance, and one that will be presented outdoors, in a context with a lot of unknowns. The performance is divided into three phases, each of which will last a good hour. I don't know how people will react or if they will try to interact with me, or to what degree I will be disoriented as I move through the space," said Raphaëlle de Groot.
During the first phase of the performance, the audience will witness the artist undergo a complex transformation by blindfolding herself and donning various materials, fabrics and prostheses. By creating such a disconcerting figure, Raphaëlle de Groot is exploring a new way to reinvent the role and image of the artist. She will then process through the city for about an hour, entangled and encumbered, faltering but invested, walking with difficulty towards the Grand Canal. For the final phase of the project, she will board a gondola. Weaving through the canals of Venice, her silhouette, before it disappears from view, will recall the baroque splendour of Venetian processions through the ages.
Louise Déry, who initiated the project, has observed many of Raphaëlle de Groot's "exercises" over the last 10 years. "By exhibiting herself as she does," she explains, "she locates and reveals the flip side of an idea, through gestures, constraints, and groping that is as challenging as it is ridiculous, and revisits the iconic figure of the artist. In Venice, there will be additional resonance, between past and present, between pomp and loss, between appearance and disappearance."
The CEO of CALQ, Stéphan La Roche, stressed that the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec is proud to be a partner in this project and to enable an artist as fascinating as Raphaëlle de Groot to shine beyond Québec in conjunction with a major event. This type of project reflects CALQ's commitment to ensuring a strong presence of Québec artists at prestigious international events.
The Galerie de l'UQAM will document Raphaëlle de Groot's performance, notably with a documentary video that will be shown to the public in autumn 2013.
Exhibition in Rome
The Z2O Galleria - Sara Zanin gallery in Rome, which represents Raphaëlle de Groot in Italy, will present an exhibition of her work from May 22 to July 12. One of the rooms of the gallery will become a kind of artist's studio while she is preparing several elements for her Venice performance. "I'll leave behind the remnants and surplus materials as an installation. The configuration of the items will show the way I work and organize materials," says the artist. In the same room, there will also be a large photograph with a sequence of 28 images from the study for the performance. Other rooms will display elements of the project Le poids des objets [The weight of objects], the video of which, La reserve, was shown in Montreal last fall.
Stay tuned
Website: http://www.galerie.uqam.ca/en/venice.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/galerie.uqam
Twitter: @GaleriedelUQAM
#DeGrootVenice
About the artist, Raphaëlle de Groot : http://www.galerie.uqam.ca/en/artist.html
About the curator, Louise Déry: http://www.galerie.uqam.ca/en/curator.html
The Venice Biennale and Québec
Founded in 1895, the Venice Biennale hosts exhibitions from countries with national pavilions, as well as international exhibitions under the authority of the Biennale Foundation, which entrusts them to renowned curators. Several Quebec artists have been present at the Biennale over the last thirty years, with three Quebecers representing Canada since 1990: Geneviève Cadieux (1990), Jana Sterbak (2003) and David Altmejd (2007).
(http://www.labiennale.org/en/Home.html)
Canada has had a pavilion at the Biennale since 1958 and will be represented at this 55th edition by Ontario artist Shary Boyle.
The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
CALQ supports artistic creation, experimentation and production in the fields of arts and letters in all the regions of Quebec and promotes their outreach in Quebec, in Canada and abroad. To learn more about CALQ, see: www.calq.gouv.qc.ca
SOURCE: UQAM
Interviews
On-site and remote interviews with the artist or the curator will be possible from May 26 to 31. Contact Maude N. Béland at 1-514-886-8328 (mobile) or at [email protected].
High-resolution photos: http://www.salledepresse.uqam.ca/photos.html
Information and source
Maude N. Béland
Press Relations Officer
Communications Service
Université du Québec à Montréal
Phone: 514 987-3000, ext. 1707
[email protected]
twitter.com/MaudeNBeland
www.salledepresse.uqam.ca
Christian O'Leary
Director of Communications
Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
Phone: 514 864-2928
Mobile: 514 594-0968
[email protected]
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