Category Archives: Sculpture

EZ Montreal Art Podcast: Les Plasticiens & Art Mur

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The Plasticiens and Beyond. Montreal 1955-1970. An exhibit at The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec
The Plasticiens and Beyond. Montreal 1955-1970. An exhibit at The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast: Les Plasticiens & Art Mur

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In season two, episode five of the EZ Montreal Art Podcast, Eloi Desjardins and Chris ‘Zeke’ Hand discuss The Plasticiens and Beyond. Montreal 1955-1970. An exhibit at The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec along with the four exhibits at Art Mur; Renato Garza Cervera: Springbreaker Tsantsas, Bevan Ramsay: Soft Tissue, Sonny Assu : #NeverIdle, and Cooke-Sasseville: Built Heritage.

Email us at ezmontrealart@gmail.com to answer the trivia question and win a prize!!
Continue reading EZ Montreal Art Podcast: Les Plasticiens & Art Mur

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast. Episode 13: Pierre Dorion; Barry Allikas; Sayeh Sarfaraz, Eve K. Tremblay, Mathieu Levesque, Guy Boutin

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In today’s episode Chris ‘Zeke’ Hand and Eloi Desjardins from Un Show de Mot’Arts discuss the Pierre Dorion, Barry Allikas and Sayeh Sarfaraz exhibits in Griffintown at Galerie Rene Blouin, Galerie Division and Galerie Antoine Ertaskiran. Along with exhibitions by Eve K. Tremblay at Galerie Hugues Charbonneau, Mathieu Levesque at Galerie Trois Points and Guy Boutin at Espace Robert Poulin, all in the Belgo Building.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast episode 13

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Specifically (and beyond the artists and galleries) The Arsenal, the impending Galerie Rene Blouin move, Shirin Neshat, the War in the Middle East, Bourgeois exhibits vs. Political exhibits, Attendance Figures, Ray Bradbury (who is not Canadian), Saul Bellow, Frank Gehry, Thinking too much, Talking with Hugues Charbonneau, the Agac Awards, The next EZ Montreal Art Podcast, Gordon Matta Clark, Roger Bellemare, Pierre Trahan, the Collection Majudia, Designing a meal, the fact that Eloi doesn’t like cartooning, then Zeke tries to inquire as to the root of why Eloi doesn’t like Guy Boutin’s work, the Comix and Bande Dessine scene, Fabric art, the Sympathy for the Devil exhibit at MACM, Free tickets and the Trivia Question (remember if you email ezmontrealart@gmail.com the answer, you can win an amazing prize!)

If you would like to hear the previous episodes of The EZ Montreal Art Podcast click here: Episode 12, Episode 11, Episode 10, Episode 9, Episode 8, Episode 7, Episode 6, Episode 5, Episode 4, Episode 3, Episode 2, Episode 1.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast, episode 8: Sylvain Bouthillette, L’Art du Style, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Galerie de Bellefeuille

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Last month, Eloi Desjardins from Un Show de Mot’Arts and I got together to talk about Sylvain Bouthillette‘s 15 Hertz exhibit at Galerie Trois Points, L’Art du Style at Les Ailes de la Mode, The New Sculpture Garden at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Beyond Photorealism at Galerie de Bellefeuille.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast episode 8

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Installation view of Sylvain Bouthillette's 15 Hertz at Galerie Trois Points
Installation view of Sylvain Bouthillette’s 15 Hertz at Galerie Trois Points
Flavie Boucher's entry in L'Art du Style at Les Ailes de la Mode
Flavie Boucher’s entry in L’Art du Style at Les Ailes de la Mode
View of the New Sculpture Garden at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal
View of the New Sculpture Garden at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal

Unfortunately I do not have any pictures from Beyond Photorealism at Galerie de Bellefeuille.

If you would like to hear the previous episodes of The EZ Montreal Art Podcast click here: Episode 7, Episode 6, Episode 5, Episode 4, Episode 3, Episode 2, Episode 1.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast episode 3

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On Monday Eloi Desjardins from Un show de mot’arts and I got together to discuss the controversy surrounding Andre Desjardins attempt to donate a sculpture to the La Régie des installations olympiques here in Montreal.

The EZ Montreal Art Podcast episode 3

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The articles Eloi compiled:

I also accidentally called Francyne Lord, the head of Bureau d’art public in Montreal Helene. I don’t know what came over me, apologies and mea culpa.

(And if you missed them, episode 1 is here and Episode 2 is here.)

Emmanuel Galland and Nicolas Mavrikakis are elitist bullies

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It was over almost before it started. Last week there was a press conference about André Desjardins and the Academy of Fine Art Foundation‘s donating a sculpture to Montreal that was going to be installed in the Olympic Park. The following day Nicolas Mavrikakis wrote an article questioning M. Desjardins’ artistic capabilities, the only reason I can think of why M. Mavrikakis didn’t call M. Desjardins a hack, is because I don’t think there is any word in the French language for it. The following day Emmanuel Galland wrote an open letter in Le Devoir (who should know better) going even further and questioning the motives of the donation as well as the quality of the art.

Well, on Friday M. Desjardins decided that he didn’t need any of the controversy, and asked the people donating the sculpture to not do so.

Obviously the lutte contre l’intimidation hasn’t made it here, yet. Which is kind of a pity, because Hochelaga-Maisonneuve could definitely use some public art.

Les enjeux by Michel Goulet

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More Michel Goulet sculptures. On Saint Denis in front of the Theatre d’Aujourd’hui.

Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet
Les enjeux by Michel Goulet

The best Maurice “Rocket” Richard statue in the world!

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I’ve written about the Maurice “Rocket” Richard statue by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, before. At some point I’m going to have to write some more about it again. But for the meantime, you’re going to have to content yourself with pictures.

Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice "Rocket" Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997
Maurice “Rocket” Richard by Jules Lasalle and Annick Bourgeau, 1997

Stolen African Art Alert

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Sometime, somewhere, somehow these pieces of African art got stolen. Once again, it would be nice if the police released some details, and in this particular case, it would be even nicer if they got some of the descriptions right.

Northern Bamana Chi Wara Horizontal Headdressses, Mali
Northern Bamana Chi Wara Horizontal Headdressses, Mali

They called it a Cimier Bambara, whatever that is…

Bwami Mask
Bwami Mask
Yoruba Sculpture of a horseman
Yoruba Sculpture of a horseman

As per usual, if you have any information send an email to Art.Alert@surete.qc.ca

Cal Lane : Ammunition at Art Mûr

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I don’t know for certain if I’ve ever been this close to something that costs $160,000. But Cal Lane‘s Gutter Snipes is a pretty gosh darn impressive drainpipe. It’s part of the show Ammunition that was at Art Mûr earlier this month. Given that it was part of the show I initially thought that it was a Quonset hut that had been cut up, but according to the wall tag, she used a drain pipe. It appeared that all the rest of the pieces in her show had some connection to the military. Consisting of ammunition boxes that had been ajoured. Beyond being very pretty and making some awesome shadows, the pieces and the show raise a whole whack of interesting questions.

Cal Lane, Gutter Snipes
Cal Lane, Gutter Snipes

Back when I was a child, I used to haunt Army/Navy surplus stores. They always had ammunition boxes for sale. Since I was so young, and as a consequence hadn’t accumulated an awful lot of stuff, I never could quite figure out what to do with an old ammunition box from World War 2 or the Korean War. Now I wish I had bought a bunch. I have more junk and crap in my place that would be so much better served by being in a box or something than just being piled on my floor. But I digress…

Cal Lane, M-62
Cal Lane, M-62

Since war is fought very differently these days in comparison to 65 years ago, I strongly doubt that contemporary ammunition boxes look at all like the ones in the exhibition. Without doing any research, I kind of figure plastic and either much smaller, for the reduction in size of projectiles or larger, for the increase in size of the projectiles. But to be absolutely honest, now-a-days I do my darndest to stay as far away as possible from anything and everything that might possibly be connect to any military. So I honestly have no clue a to what a contemporary ammunition box looks like. But, I’m quite familiar with the old ones.

Basically two feet by three feet by four feet (or something like that) and made out of metal, they make for a fairly stable and regular object to have bits cut out by a welding torch – that’s the difference, filigree is made by twisting threads together, lace and hemstitch are done similarly – with ajoure you cut the bits out.

There are all sorts of things you can read into the use of ajoure on old ammunition boxes. If you need some help, a traditionally female type of work being used on a traditionally male piece of equipment. Military vs. Domestic, you get the idea. Let your imagination run wild. Then the final kick at the can, it wasn’t until I actually went to callane.com that I discovered in fact that Ms. Lane is in fact a Ms. Thereby adding even more fuel for the fire of your imagination.

Cal Lane, Infrared Illumination
Cal Lane, Infrared Illumination

The one thing I was particularly impressed with through, beyond the juxtapositioning of two seemingly incongruous ideas was her use of shadows and negative space. There was nothing particularly special about the lighting per se, but the shadows thrown off the objects were riveting. To the extent that it was extremely difficult to concentrate on the rather rough cut outs on the boxes. I’m fairly certain that if I had one of the boxes hanging across from my desk or bed or something, where I would have multiple opportunities to study it for an extended period of time I’d be able to create some sort of story or understand the things Ms. Lane has cut out in the boxes. As it is, the shadows function kind of like a veil, obscuring things just enough to make it extremely alluring.

Cal Lane, Messenger of Combat I and II
Cal Lane, Messenger of Combat I and II

As I mentioned at the beginning, I thought Gutter Snipes was a Quonset hut. I’m a tad disappointed that it wasn’t. Because it would have been in keeping with the whole whole military theme. But as an object, it is something spectacular. Unlike the other pieces, it’s lit from within, so the shadows fall out side of it on the wall and floor. While they do make pretty patterns they don’t interfere with the metalwork which enables you to actually see and concentrate on some of the motifs and patterns. In some ways this is a good thing, and in other ways it isn’t suck a good thing.

Cal Lane, Gutter Snipes, detail
Cal Lane, Gutter Snipes, detail

It’s not good, because you get to see up close how rough Ms. Lane’s work is. Not that there is anything wrong with rough work, it’s just that when your work gets compared to lace and filigree in an age when there is a techniques known as laser cutting and waterjet cutting. It becomes a case of not quite living up to expectations, especially when your eye switches from the ammunition boxes veiled in shadows. Then secondarily, I didn’t quite appreciate seeing that the individual parts were held together by wrapped wire. It gave a little bit too much of an air of being jury-rigged together or slapdash, and not well thought out.

Cal Lane, Gutter Snipes, detail
Cal Lane, Gutter Snipes, detail

On the other hand it is a good thing, because by being able to see what she has cut out, you can start to make up stories about what everyone is doing, and making up stories is a very very good thing. When I was there, I couldn’t make up my mind if the whole thing was supposed to be read left-to-right, top-to-bottom or right-to-left. I guess it kind of depends on what god you believe in. Going left-to-right there seem to be a bunch of angels, some with mohawks, along with industrial landscapes, some other animals and a lot of the pretty shapes she uses to keep everything attached. If you read top-to-bottom, there seem to be a a bunch of devas or dharmapalas, some with mohawks, along with industrial landscapes, some other animals and a lot of the pretty shapes she uses to keep everything attached. If you read right-to-left there seem to be a bunch of Garuda or malaikah, some with mohawks, along with industrial landscapes, some other animals and a lot of the pretty shapes she uses to keep everything attached. I wish I had the time to go over it more closely, and actually try to give you some idea of the story I would make up about what was happening, but unfortunately, as you can see, I’m desperately behind the times and as the show closed two weeks ago, it’s not exactly easy to go back and spend a day-and-a-half looking at. With a little luck Rhéal Olivier & François were able to sell it to someone or something that will allow it to be viewed by the public and you can see it and make up your own.

Cal Lane, Gutter Snipes, detail
Cal Lane, Gutter Snipes, detail

It was at this point that I was going to try and write about how Gutter Snipes also was some kind of half pipe and tie it into skater culture and then finish up with a paragraph or two on recycling and reusing. But the more I think about it, neither one really applies. While there are lots of similarities that can be made between Gutter Snipes and The Pipe specifically in the shape and the ornamentation, the more I think about it, the less it seems natural and organic. And yes, I could jam them together no matter what anyone else thinks, but if I had to add another 1,200 words to this, I’m not certain it would be the best use of my time (can you tell that I’m getting anxious about all the backlogged stuff I’ve got?) And then while the recycle and reuse is a much more graceful thing to posit (and probably would only require about 500 words) I find it equally awkward when the ammunition boxes are most likely from Army Surplus stores and were never intended to be thrown away.

The Big O Pipe
The Big O Pipe

But the whole Women’s art thing really can’t be avoided. Ms. Lane leans heavily on what has traditionally been the only type of art that the y-chromosome challenged folk have been allowed to do for something like the last couple of millennia, while at the same time using as her base material and (for lack of a better word) “brushes” things that are most typically associated with the more aggressive of the sexes. Kind of like flipping everything on its head, or at least twisting standard issue artistic practices inside out. This is a good thing. While, personally, I would prefer to call Ms. Lane “Caledonia” (if in fact that is her name) rather than the gender bending diminutive “Cal,” more, because I really don’t like surprises, and then secondarily, it makes that whole “in fact that Ms. Lane is in fact a Ms.” redundant and superfluous, which is what gender in art should be. It doesn’t matter whether it is made by a guy or a girl. Yes it is unfortunate and bad that the art world has been one of the more sexist and misogynistic places for thousands of years. but here in Quebec, despite a lapse for 1,032 days starting in 2006, things for the most part are better than equal.

Three out of the four big museums in town are run by women, most of the major art festivals are run by women, a large preponderance of the galleries (commercial, university and artist run) are run by women, and believe it or not the collections in the museums that have collections while not 50/50 are a darn site closer than probably any other museums in the world (if I remember correctly, when I tried to count, the MACM had about 35% of its collection made by women, and the MBAM something like 20%) and there are significant local collections that actually have more art made by women.

But it’s beginning to look like I am foaming at the mouth here. In short, no matter how hard you try to avoid it, it’s impossible to avoid gender issues in this exhibit by Ms. Lane. This is a good thing. Her art is also a good thing. And finally it’s a very good thing I got to see it. Next time you have a chance you should too.

Two articles on Public Art

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Last week it seemed like forgotten public art was all the rage. Both François Cardinal in La Presse and Emmanuel Delacour from QMI wrote articles about Fonte modulaire by Robert Roussil and Iris by Raoul Hunter respectively.

If anyone is looking for other forgotten public art that has fallen into disrepair. I got a short list: Mastodo by Charles Daudelin, Forces by Claude Theberge, Jackie Robinson by Jules Lasalle, Comme si le temps… de la rue by Pierre Granche, Stained Glass by Alfred Pellan at the Bar Pellan in Place des Arts, Girafes by Robert Roussil, Affinité by Hans Schleeh, Trialogue by Hans Schleeh, Trente Deux Fois Passera La Derniere S’Envolera by Pierre Granche.