Seripop in the UK and Gordon Ball this Thursday

Remember Seripop’s No Henge installation at the Emporium Gallery?

The creative duo exhibited it again last month, at the Baltic Center for Contemporary Arts (UK), to show it off with The Trail, from 2008. They’re sharing pics of the installation process on their blog, you have to click here and see them.

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Speaking of the Emporium Gallery, Gordon Ball’s I am sorry. Sincerely, Frankenstein exhibition opens this Thursday, August 27th from 7pm-11pm (3035 St. Antoine Ouest, #74). It’s Ball’s first solo exhibition in Montreal in over 2 years so come out and support this local photographer.

I’m told this show is full of nudity.

Nicolás De Jesús - Grandeurs et décadences/The ball of the hallucinated carcasses

I am pretty excited about this exhibition that’s on until the 29th of June (so go this week!!) at the Centre Culturel Simón Bolívar, 394 de Maisonneuve ouest (métro Place-des-Arts). I’ve heard of neither the artist nor the venue, hence my inner sense of mystery is already stirred. 

The show itself is part of the First Peoples’ Festival 2009, (which officially ended Monday) and presents the prints of Mexican artist Nicolas De Jesus.

I am a big fan of traditional printmaking and Jesus’ art is reminiscent to me (at least of what I’ve seen) of some of the art of the grotesque artists that I am really quite fond of, more-than-friendly neighbours you wish would eat at your house every day.  

Here’s a write-up from the Festival website about Jesus’ work:

Born on December 6, 1960 in the Nahua region of the state of Guerrero, in Mexico, Nicolás developed his art in a family setting among the Ameyaltepec community, where the tradition of visual art on amatepaper has flourished for a long time. Nicolás’ work reflects a broad spectrum of personal experiences, from his origins in a traditional village to exile among immigrants transplanted in the USA. Through his prints, Nicolás defends his cultural identity and takes a critical view of planetary reality, through the prism of political tragicomedy. One of Nicolás’ intentions is to raise popular consciousness through art, for liberatory ends, motivating the work he does on murals in Mexico’s Aboriginal communities.

In October 2008, the artist donated this series of prints to the Committee for the Reconstruction of Petanac for fundraising purposes. All sales are earmarked for the reconstruction of this village of the department of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, razed by the Guatemalan army on July 14, 1982 after the massacre of its inhabitants, during an anti-insurrectional and state terrorist campaign.

The venue is open from Monday to Friday from noon to 7 pm so take a long lunch or quit your job to go.

June 18th: Thoday is Thrazy Thursday

Brace yourselves, there are (at least) three art openings to go to today (Thursday the 18th). They all start at 7pm, and I hope you can find a way to see everything without missing Corpusse’s performance at Zoobizarre later tonight. Details below:

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1. Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo at Galerie Push (7-9pm)

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of his intense and riveting creatures (see Kit’s post below). His Bestiairies show is staying at PUSH (5264 St. Laurent) until the 26th of July.

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2. The Emporium State of Mind (7-11pm)

The product of a collaboration between The Emporium Gallery (3035 St. Antoine Ouest #74) and Montreal State of Mind: a “media spanning group exhibition that will exemplify Montreal State of Mind’s mission- to promote the inherent creativity of those who live in Montreal done through the Emporium Gallery’s curation”. The exhibition features the work of Fangs, Amber Albrecht, Sean Orena, Alexi Hobbs, 123Klan, RAGE5, Robb Jamieson, Kit Malo (!), Julien de Repentigny, Astro, Dave Arnold, Ben Pobjoy and Danielle Levy. They are 13 Montreal-based visual artists, who will each be exhibiting one artwork priced at a maximum of $200CAD

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3. A Red Bird Studios Group Show at General 54, 7pm

General 54 (54 St-Viateur O) is hosting a group show put up by the artist-run arts space Red Bird. The exhibition showcases the work of its diverse group of painters, sculptors, graphic designers and silk screeners, each one exploring their individual practice and methodology within the material constraints of a 10″x10″ canvas board. There will also be cake supplied by Cocoa Locale (best cupcakes in town, and I know what I’m talking about) and 10% off everything in the store!

Artists include: Sarah Courtemanche, Dan Buller, Kit Malo (!), Oksana, Rebecca Rosen, Jayce Yam, Mark Dixon, Julien Ceccaldi (!), Katie Earle, John Player, Andrea Kastner, Colin Lyons, Corrie Peterson, Kim Kielhofner, Naomi Cook, Lisa Wilson, Daniel Nessler, Rachel Berger, Becky Emlaw, Shannon Kelly, Konan Cook, and others…

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4. Where you must be after all the art and cake (Zoobizarre, 9pm)

Starting at 9pm, Suoni per il popolo presents Corpusse (TO), The Unireverse (Mtl) and Knurl (TO). There will be everything you could need by then (besides art and cake), i.e. synth action, confrontational performance and raw noise.

I’m especially looking forward to seeing Corpusse do his thing: it will be primitive hardcore punk with a synthesizer, and it will involve glitter and nice make-up. Here’s a video of his last performance at Zoobizarre (6388 St-Hubert) in October 2006.

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PUSHing out Osvaldo’s Beasts

It is safe to say that Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo, who is younger than you would think and very much brimming over with equal parts creative enthusiasm and dedicated focus, is one of THE contemporary artists working in Canada (or wherever he goes, stays, sleeps and tumbles) to pay attention to now and forever more. 

I have been a huge fan of his for several years since I first saw his large illustrations gracing the halls in the new, oddly sterile (or just odd & sterile) EV building at Concordia University. His use of intense mythologies and an unbelievable technique made me stop in my tracks, rabbit-caught-in-field-in-the-middle-of-the-hunt,  and compelled me to make immediate contact. Since then, we’ve had the honour of working with him for Art Pop 2008, and have seen more and more folks take the appropriate measures they should in regards to aiding and abetting his skills. 

Which is why I am SO excited to go to his latest show at Megan Bradley’s awesome PUSH gallery, which opens in only a few days, on the 18th of June. Penned Bestiaries, it is a series of new works that are smaller in format than some of his larger-scale works, but prove only how versatile an artist he is, as they translate the finesse of line and impact of symbolic gesture equally powerfully. There will be big stuff there too, for those who have…size issues. As well, he’ll be showing some of the lithographs he did recently at the St.Michael’s Printshop residency in Newfoundland, which is a medium he hasn’t explored in some time, so it’s a special treat to be able to look at these astounding prints. 

Honestly, this little write-up hardly does his complex and compelling work any justice at all, but one day I will put up a full-fledged interview with the guy and get it over with. Until then, mark off your calendars for this Thursday starting at 7pm, and get your butts over to PUSH and see for yourselves.

Bad Day #4 Launch and Exhibition Tonight

The Emporium Gallery is back from its winter nap tonight (7-11pm), with the launch of the fourth issue of Bad Day, a Toronto-based magazine, and with an exhibition featuring the artworks of Parra, Lukas Geronimas, Oliver Laric and WZRDS GANG- all of whom are featured in the fourth issue. This mixed-media group exhibition chock full of prints, film and sculpture is not be missed. The Emporium Gallery is located at 3035 St. Antoine Ouest, Studio 74, a 2-3 minute walk from the Lionel-Groulx Metro station. FB for more info.

If you can’t make it to tonight’s launch/vernissage, the exhibition will be open Thursday, April 2nd through Sunday, April 5th from 12PM - 5PM. Private viewings will be available by appointment only from Monday April 6th through Wednesday, April 8th.

Store 1026 Now Open!

In a post about Expozine 2008, I briefly mentioned the awesome Philadelphia-based art studio/community Space 1026. Well, they just opened an online store and it’s fabulous. Picture the Expozine booth of your (my?) dreams that makes you really cream your pants, but bigger and open 24/7. I’ve already got my eyes set on this great Mr. ET print by Andrew Jeffrey Wright (pictured above), as well as colorful rainbowy Wu Tang logo print by Crystal Stokowski (pictured below). I’m sure you’ll find something of your liking over there, so shop around and encourage a sweet bunch of artists!

Of terrifying, exciting things happening (in Montreal)

I have been a HUGE fan of long-time Galerie Circulaire member Rene Donais from the first moment I smacked into his work. It didn’t take me years, like it did with Bacon. The immediate, crushing weight of his lines and artistry comes down upon me each time I peek at anything the man has done.

This admission of adoration leaves me feeling vulnerable to the fact that it’s rather clear to see traces of what visually inspires me (on tablecloths and napkins throughout the land). Although my heart is sensitive and squeamish, and I would rather clean your toilet (that has been left on its own-some for years-on-end) than watch a horror movie with you, I am a feverish, sweaty brow for the art of the grotesque.

Give me Goya, give me Ensor, give me Osvaldo Ramirez Castillo, and I will surely walk away with a grin a few sizes too large.

Which is what I fully intend to do when I walk out of the exhibition currently on at the Salle de diffusion de Parc-Extension, Complexe William-Hingston, curated by Rene Donais and featuring the works of 9 important Montreal engravers.

On hand will be work from Marc Seguin (whose work is pictured above) and Sylvain Bouthillette, (check out the image below) alongside a handful of others who I am busting at the gut to “meet” as Donais has such a passionate vision within this medium that I can’t imagine that his choices as a commissaire would be anything less than electrifying.

The Salle is located at 421 Saint-Roch Street, 7 minutes away from the Parc Metro station. Call them at (514) 872-6131 if you get lost. Please. Cause you gotta see this.

Exhibition runs until the 11th of January.
Round table discussion with invited artists on the 13 of December at 2pm.

Expozine 2008 - good times

 I’m really into all things pertaining to printed matter, so y’all can imagine how glad I was to attend this year’s much anticipated edition of “one of North America’s largest small press fairs.” Like always, I thought the experience was definitely inspiring and invigorating and I left the Saint-Enfant Jésus Church with burning feelings of satisfaction, envy and determination, which was great. Here are 7 things I hate about you I found and loved at Expozine, in no particular order:

1) STOLEN.BIKE.MTL, an intriguing zine by Sheena Hoszko which compiles her online correspondence with strangers who engaged with her last intervention. Let me quote an articule email that explains the artist’s project probably better than I ever could:

In the summer of 2008, Sheena Hoszko placed paper tags on stranger’s bicycles which read, “Last summer my bike was stolen, now I’m looking for a bike to steal”. These tags also included an email address. The artist privately corresponded with people who contacted her regarding their thoughts, anger, and questions about the tags found on their bicycles. These email conversations have been archived within a limited edition zine. STOLEN.BIKE.MTL aims to initiate a dialog surrounding loss, ownership, and potential.

2) Jason Hsu’s Holy Shmoly 2, printed at Space 1026 (in Philadelphia) and sold to me by Space 1026 founding member Maximilian Lawrence. This is a gorgeously screen-printed colorful pamphlet full of psychedelic visuals, cool-looking characters and references to late 80’s/early 90’s cartoons.

3) Walter Scott’s newest zine. This one features great collages/drawings/photos that all demonstrate the density and the awesomeness of Walter’s mind. I’ve been keeping an eye on his art for more or less a year now and it’s been so nice to see it more and more all over the city. But allow me to tell you more about Walter in an upcoming (and way longer) blog post, as he totes deserves it!

4) Lisa Czech’s Lazy Eye #2 is a collection of collages and drawings that was sold at the table Lisa, Walter and their friend Rick Trembles were sharing. This one contains lots of ice cream and female gymnasts with awkward facial expressions, which I always appreciate.

5) Elif Saydam’s Things I Have Loved & Lost: 1989-2009 is my friend and co-worker’s adorably honest, funny and sweet reflection on - you guessed it, the things she lost since 1989. Her writing warms the heart, and it’s a pleasure to relate to her charming and personal stories that make you go ‘I feel you, man’ at every single chapter.

6) Photographs by Erik Osberg, who just got mentionned in Amy’s post. I was sold at the first page, with a shot that got me lingering on the decaying beauty of all-night diner / Montreal hot spot Nouveau Palais (281 Bernard W). Things only got better with pictures of corporations oddly surrounded by trees, or a shot of Bobo the cat sleeping under the protection its plush-cat-mom. The zine ends with super insightful words from Erik regarding both photography in general and his own practive of it. Oh yeah.

7) The great folks over at Art Matters put together this collection of drawings and collages made by fellow Concordia University students the night of a drawing party over at Korova on November 12th. Under its lovely (and oh so shiny) cover, you’ll find two pages dedicated to my new nineties-inspired cartoon rubber-furries. You get a preview of that if you click on the image below, although I guess it’s not really a preview if I give you 1,5 pages out of 2. Oh well.

Of Note…(small and note-like news you might find scrawled to you on a piece of paper from a loved one in the morning)

Just wanted to flag for all you illustration-obsessed humans that l’Atelier Circulaire’s annual print sale that runs through most of December, Prêt à emporter III begins in a week and a half.

I went last year and it was pretty mind-blowing, as it offers over 300 works from printmakers of all different walks of life and level of skill. Nothing is priced over $100 and I actually got an amazing print for $40 that still draws little gasps from my awed and inspired mouth everytime I look at it.

Depending on your level of interest, this event could either challenge you (like dance does for me) or make you feel like you are in some sort of surreal afterlife as you walk into a wall-to-wall land full of tiny scratches, ink marks, cross-hatchings….

What’s more, Galerie Circulaire is a really, really cool place that you should find more about. One day I will have the time to take one of the courses they offer there, or sit on the sofa and stare at the wall in the studio, slowly eating 1 dorito (sweet chili heat, our sponsor) for 14 weeks straight as an endurance piece.

The sale has an opening, on Friday the 5th of December from 5:30-9pm, but it goes until the 20th.
Galerie Circulaire is open Wednesday-Saturday from 12-5pm.

GALERIE CIRCULAIRE
5445, Av. de Gaspé, espace 101
Montréal (Québec) H2T 3B2
Tél.: 514-272-8874