ART-PRESENTATION: Fresh Paint/New Construction, Part III
Celebrating its 15th edition, the exhibition “Fresh Paint/New Construction” is on presentation at Art Mûr-Montreal. While the previous editions were known for upholding their concentration on the eclectic worlds of sculpture and painting, this year’s event wholeheartedly embraces the rather inevitable inclusion of intermedia, this exhibition presents 52 artists from 13 participating universities. Emulating the current, digitized reality, this most recent selection brings together an array of mediums, notably integrating all that is mechanized (Part I), (Part II).
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Art Mûr Archive
Each of these students’ practices hold a unique view of the socio-political and geographical landscapes surrounding them. While some continue to employ classical forms of art-making, the influence of technology and cybernetics is more explicit in others. Commenting on a relatable, contemporary state of mind, Cecilia Mulvey creates ceramics that are aimed to exist in a transitional phase, in between two ideals. Through manipulation of the human form, her sculpture “Emerging Light” (2015) integrates light and electricity to simultaneously criticize and praise the constant presence of technology in our lives. Katherine Khedni Wyatt looks to her external surroundings to gather and reconsider the status of discarded materials, old and new, as a means of unlearning the ‘conventions of disposability’. Using similar strategies, Colin Courtney also looks to the outside environment for materials and pigments to manipulate. In an effort to highlight the effects that all organisms may have on each other, the artist primes these found pigments to pursue symbiotic lives of their own, on canvas. Laurena Fineus explores the realities of her own identity, through representations of the Haitian diaspora and womanhood. These elements are nonetheless influenced by an interest in hybridity and interpersonal relationships, allowing the viewers an elaborate glimpse into the dynamics of her lived experiences. Marie-Soleil Provençal’s works delve into the distinction between what is even considered human or not, demonstrated through the malleability of mundane objects and their respective physicalities. Finally, arriving to those situated adjacent to the cybernetic end of the spectrum, one can observe the works of Nicolas Lapointe and Philippe Vandal. Lapointe examines cyberspace as a realm that fuses technology and mysticism. In his art practice, this idea is demonstrated through pushing the technological apparatus itself beyond its intended use. Vandal’s “Potential Conversation” (2018) instead places a plant as the subject in question, surrounded a multitude of sensors analyzing some of the most microscopic aspects of its being. This information is then translated into visual and sonic manifestations, allowing for a bridge to form between machine, human and anything non-human.
Participating artists: Tiffany April, Francis Arguin, July-Ann El Baze, Haley Bean, Guy Bergeron, Quinn Buckler, Joviel Buenavente, Emily Clark, Colin Courtney, Tye Dandridge, Tatianna Diamantopoulou, Louis-Charles Dionne, Alissa Dionne, Jessy Duchaine, Olivier Moisan Dufour, Julie Dumont, Alexanne Dunn, Laurena Fineus, Patrick Foisy, Eloïse Foulon, Kelsey Gallagher, Alexis Gros-Louis, Emily Hayes, Brubey Hu, Miles Ingrassia, IvanovStoeva, Matthew Kratz, Nicolas Lapointe, Katika Marczell, Sasha Miller, Cecilia Mulvey, Tristan O’Malley, Lauren Prousky, Marie-Soleil Provençal, Devon Pryce, Naz Rahbar, Steven Restagno, Jessie Rowe, Myriam Simard-Parent, Rebecca Sutherland, Ryan Taylor, Merryn Tresidder, Tiffany Tsang, Philippe Vandal, Chad Vaudry, Jon Vaughn, Agatha Veale, Lingxiang Wu, Katherine Wyatt, Arma Yari and Chongyin Yuan
Participating universities: Alberta University of the Arts (Calgary, AB), University of Regina (SK), University of Manitoba (MB), University of Waterloo (ON), York University (Toronto,ON), OCAD University (Toronto, ON), Université d’Ottawa (ON), Concordia University (Montréal, QC), Université du Québec à Montréal UQAM (Montréal, QC), Université Bishop’s (Sherbrooke, QC), Université Laval (QC), NSCAD University (Halifax, NS) and Grenfell Campus Memorial University (NL)
Info: Art Mûr-Montreal, 5826 St-Hubert, Montréal, Duration: 18/7-24/8/19, Days & Hours: Tue-Wed 10:00-18:00, Thu-Fri 12:00-20:00, Sat 12:00-17:00, http://artmur.com
