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EXHIBITION IN THE MAKING
VALSES EXHIBITION
From September 24 to December 10, 2023
A waltz is primarily a series of movements, but when something repeatedly goes around and around, it also alters direction. The ever-changing movements of such cycles are at the heart of this exhibition entitled Valses, which brings together the work of three visual artists. This collection offers a multiple view (hypothetical, intellectual and material) of moving objects, expressed in the artists’ own unique way.
Mirement/La ménagerie, for example, a video installation by Geneviève Chevalier, casts a critical eye on how the living world has been degraded in today’s society, based on collections in natural history museums and her university research. Jacques Desruisseaux’s installation Figures libres is a collection of sculptures imbued with movement – a metaphor for social issues and how nature is constantly being transformed. Lastly, in Forêt, Mélanie Lefebvre creates huge paintings of forested landscapes in which one could imagine being in among the trees! Thus, just like a waltz, each work encapsulates the idea of a continuous cycle of movement whether triggered by human intervention (in the past or the present), or by nature itself.
GENEVIÈVE CHEVALIER
Mirement/La ménagerie
Mirement/La ménagerie
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.
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JACQUES DESRUISSEAUX
Figures libres
Figures libres
From September 24 to December 30, 2023
The way different materials move preoccupies the mind of Jacques Desruisseaux. The artist is fascinated by the unexpected things he encounters when contemplating something deeply and with his full concentration and they inevitably lead him into new experiences – an artistic approach that guides his work. Sculpture offers a direct, solid contact with a subject he wants to portray, echoed in a more subtle manner by his photographic images – showing that life is constantly changing.
The artist views his work as a reflection of the way the human body moves – evident in the way his metal figures are twisted and contorted like somebody dancing or the rhythm of a poet’s words or the notes of a musical score. His ideas about movement also extend to social and artistic life – always evolving, multifaceted and profound. Desruisseaux interprets his outlook through abstract, free-form figures and by contrasting the fluidity of organic forms with the rigidity of his straight, simple geometric lines.
Holder of a bachelor’s degree in visual arts (BFA) from Université Laval, Jacques Desruisseaux lives and works in Lennoxville in the Eastern Townships. By using photographic images in tandem with his sculptures, he examines social movements and the ever-changing nature of life. Over the years, he has completed artists’ residencies in Belgium, Holland, Hungary and Iceland. His work has also been featured in a number of group and solo exhibitions. Jacques Desruisseaux, a multidisciplinary artist, is the recipient of several grants, notably from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ), the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC) and he has created public art in Montérégie, the Eastern Townships and Quebec City. The Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec has a sculpture by Desruisseaux in its collection.
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MÉLANIE LEFEBVRE
Forêt
Forêt
From September 24 to December 10, 2023
Mélanie Lefebvre’s work is informed by the region in which she lives, in particular the forest. The artist’s approach to her work is analytical and contemplative and her in-depth observations of her natural surroundings lead her to depict landscapes that are both detailed and romantic. The exhibition Forest explores certain connections between human beings and trees, by exploring the emotions that bubble to the surface when walking through a forest and realizing that the soil under your feet is teeming with life!
Each painting invites viewers to truly immerse themselves in the forest, so they can better observe, smell, hear and understand it. Through the play of light and by altering the dimensions of a subject, the artist shows how you can interpret a landscape in many different ways. Thus the depiction of say, a smudge of paint, can also be viewed as a particular shape, a splash of light, a piece of textured material – harking back to the spontaneity and distorted imagery that were characteristic of the Impressionist and Expressionist movements.
Born in 1976 in Montreal, Mélanie Lefebvre lives and works in Shefford in the Eastern Townships. After a number of years working as a project manager in the field of graphic design, she decided to go back to school to study the visual arts. She graduated from Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) with a visual arts certificate and bachelor’s degree (BFA) and it was during this period that she discovered a passion for painting. Following her graduation, several galleries in and around Montreal started to show her work and Loto-Québec acquired two of her paintings (from her Horizons series) to add to its collection. Over the years, Lefebvre has taken part in several group exhibitions (notably at the Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke) as well as international shows in London, Miami, Toronto and New York.
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