Showing skin

The better part of Montreal galleries are deeply ensconced in their peculiar summer hibernation rituals, but Core Gallery (4615 St-Laurent) will have none of that. This weekend, the three-month-old space kicks off its third monthly series, the most titillating Summer Flesh, and if that isn't July enough for you, it comes with cold beers and a barbecue out back.

The show features seven Montreal up-and-comers, brought together by gallery director and participating metal artist Celyn Church, who opened the space with a mandate to promote multi-disciplinary creations from emerging artists, as well as to host regular workshops (currently there's a live drawing one on Tuesday nights). For every series, the gallery has a core contingency of artists and a special guest - this month's being the lovely and talented Kristi Ropeleski. Also exhibiting are Matt Brown, Jeannie Taylor, Graham Hall, Jeremy Simons and Melissa Cartwright. It opens this Saturday, July 2, at 7 p.m., and continues till the 29th.   Matthew Woodley

Lesbian lollapalooza

If your lesbian friends are all in a tizzy this week, acting more like dizzy debutantes than the coolly ironic hipsters you know and love, cut them some slack: for them, this is Cotillion week. The social event of their year, the one they'll blow their summer wardrobe budget on, happens this Saturday night, July 2, 8 p.m., at the Théâtre Corona (2490 Notre-Dame W.).

Now in its 12th year, The Boudoir, as this exercise in demimondaine decadence is called, is more than just a party. "We wanted to recreate the atmosphere of fun and sexual freedom of 1920s Paris," says organizer Miriam Ginestier, who herself embodies, in the persona of silent film star Fanny Nipplebottom, the anarchic subversiveness of flapper feminism.

The resulting cabaret-cum-speakeasy-cum-salon is an exhilarating mix of high glamour (think Tamara de Lempicka) and low comedy (think music halls and vaudeville). This year features - in addition to the regular fare of drag kings, circus acts and skits - a short silent film (Ginestier held a contest and is showing the winner), burlesque troupes from Toronto and San Francisco and peep shows sponsored by the pervy grrrl's preferred peddler of pleasuring paraphernalia, Joy Toyz. At the risk of losing my own cool, critical edge, I'll admit that this party makes me wish I were a lesbian myself. Check out www.leboudoir.org. » John Custodio

Oh Darling

It's prime time to hop on your bike and check out what's happening at Quartier Éphémère's Darling Foundry in Old Montreal (745 Ottawa). The venue has programming going on for the rest of the season, is open late in the evenings and there's the tasty Cluny Artbar on site to satisfy any gastronomic cravings.

Until July 17th, there's a video projection by Wyn Geleynse that uses some sweet transitions to link scenes from a snow-covered Montreal park with what appear to be warm Mediterranean interiors. Also on view is Karim Ghelloussi's odd collection of constructions made from found objects that look like props for some strange theatre set. Opening later on this summer, a group show called Debraye that focuses on the automobile and work by the Sanchez Brothers both look promising. For more info, call 392-1554. » Christine Redfern

Meteorite strike

Not too far out of town, the National Gallery is putting on the latest edition in its series of excellent summer art exhibitions out of the old Alcan aluminium smelter in Shawinigan. Elements of Nature continues explorations that began in 2003's exhibition The Body Transformed and 2004's Noah's Ark. While past shows highlighted the human body and the animal kingdom, respectively, Elements of Nature focuses upon humanity's sense of identity and place in relation to the natural world.

It is well worth the under-two-hour drive to this huge industrial space to see the impressive range of works made out of every conceivable material by artists Irene F. Whittome, Paterson Ewen, Liz Magore, Bernadette Ivalooarjuk Saumik, Ah Xian and Michael Snow, among others. The art is paired with a display of meteorites from the Canadian Museum of Nature, and scientific images of the moon, planets, nebulae and galaxies, as seen from the Hubble Space Telescope and other spacecraft. Guaranteed to please all ages. Runs until Oct. 2 at the Cité de l'énergie (1882 Cascade, Shawinigan), 1-866-900-2483 or www.citedelenergie.com. » Christine Redfern

Is it Art?

FAMILY FRAGMENTS: When artist Thomas Grondin bought his recently deceased grandmothther's house in 2003, he stumbled upon the belongings of an uncle who he had barely known: one Jean Boucher, who lived in Montreal from 1977–1984, when he committed suicide. Among the boxes were many drawings and paintings, further feeding his curiosity about the man and prompting him to take his search public in a project he calls Le soldat inconnu. Earlier this month, Grondin unveiled a monument in Viger Square, in conjunction with Dare-Dare gallery, featuring a recurrent pattern from Jean Boucher's work and various documents found at his grandmother's house. A bulletin board now stands at the site and will be continually updated as info surfaces, as will Dare-Dare's Web site, www.cam.org/~daredar. Grondin is looking for people who lived in Centre-Sud in the late '70s–early '80s, especially those connected with the punk scene at the time, and, best of all, anyone who knew his uncle. The search continues until the fall.

ArtsHole

TURNING THE WHEELS: If you're in the Eastern Townships for some country time, there's art to be found at Sutton's Galerie Charmante (1182 Macey). Painter Vita's Women & Wheels puts forth nude females posing with bicycles against various historical backdrops, denouncing, the artist says, "those ancient morals that have long prevented women from taking their rightful place in society, while glorifying their aspiration to greater freedom." • ROCK, METAL, BLUES: Featuring Anne Billy, Jean Brilliant, Réal Capuano and Yves Louis-Seize, O Patro Vys (356 Mont-Royal E.) presents Vys et Vertus, a colourful multi-disciplinary exhibition of paintings, sculpture, metal, rocks and more. The vernissage takes place on Wednesday, July 6, and the show goes on through Sept. 4.

ARTISTAT: Number of artists showing their stuff on the stretch of Ste-Catherine between Amherst and Papineau in the Festival Montréal en arts, running from June 30–July 3: 170+

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