From September 24 to December 30, 2023

Taking a cue from experimental documentary approaches, Geneviève Chevalier casts a critical eye on the conception of the living world inherited from modernity – decontextualized, simplified and exploitable. Through researching certain forms of life (a garden, a menagerie, a collection from a natural history museum), she has documented how collections of plants and birds can be used as a “database” to determine how they relate to climate change and the erosion of biodiversity and thus change our perceptions about the living world.

The artist uses a variety of digital media in her work, including photography and videography. Mirement/La ménagerie was created during her residency at the Quebec studio in London, in 2020. A three-part video installation, it is based on research drawn from a collection at the Natural History Museum, as well as heritage sites in southern England, prompting her to explore the many issues around climate change and the loss of biodiversity.

Geneviève Chevalier is a visual and media artist, independent curator and Assistant Professor at the École d’art de l’Université Laval. She holds an MFA from Concordia University and a PhD in Art Theory and Practice from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Chevalier has also completed a postdoctoral internship in museology (focusing on art intervention) as part of the activities of the research group CIÉ/CO. She was artist-in-residence at the AdMare Arts Centre in 2023, the ACME Studio in London (2020 and 2022), ArtLab – Foreman Art Gallery at Bishop’s University (2021 and 2022), Sporobole (2018), and CCA (the Centre for Contemporary Arts) in Glasgow (2017). In 2023, a monograph of her work entitled Towering will be published in partnership with Dazibao, the Foreman Art Gallery and Galerie UQO. Geneviève Chevalier lives and works in Quebec City.