DIY HOUSING: From Spier’s “Three Bedroom Flat”

Parisian Laundry (3550 St-Antoine W.), with its high ceilings, giant windows and quiet calm, offers an ideal environment for checking out art, and there is new work up until Nov. 21.

Fresh from the Quebec Triennale, Valérie Blass inhabits the first floor with a collection of sculptures entitled La Plus Pure Apparence. Working with a variety of media including ceramics and wood, the collection brings a number of sculptural traditions to the fore, but it is “L’homme paille” that caught my attention: a yeti-like figure made out of string sits quietly in repose, his hulking figure alive with kinetic possibility.

Upstairs, David Humphrey’s Expecting Ecstasy is a series of large-scale acrylics that are both abstract and representative. Rendered in brilliant shades of pink, blue and green, the landscapes here seem determined to dominate the canvas, but are held at bay by the figures who hover on their surfaces, equally determined to stand their ground.

Downstairs in the bunker, Adrienne Spier’s “Three Bedroom Flat” might also be called “Much Assembly Required.” Comprised of three wooden interventions, the installation speaks to the ephemeral nature of contemporary life and offers an amusing commentary on our recent obsession with an Ikea-esque ready-to-live existence.

by STACEY DEWOLFE

Sharing the wealth

COLLECTIVE GNOME: A Dessinators creation

Following fast on the heels of the Man Drawing Salon, one of the city’s free drawing collectives, at Monastiraki last month, the group known as Les Dessinators have a new show opening at the Maison de la Culture de Notre Dame de Grâce (3755 Botrel) this weekend with a vernissage on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 2 p.m.

Comprised of five emerging Montreal artists—Nicolas Beaupré, Cara Déry, Geneviève Doyon, Mathieu Lacroix and Jean-Michael Seminaro—Les Dessinators, work uses a methodology similar to that of the Surrealists’ exquisite corpse in which an image is constructed out of bits and pieces contributed by each member of the collective.

In fact, in order for a piece to be considered complete, at least four of the five members must have worked on it to some extent. Inspired by the free exchange of ideas, the process allows the members to further confront their own realities.

The result is a body of work that is often amusing, sometimes disturbing and always unique, as the pieces are in essence a collision of different styles and approaches to drawing.

The show is up until Jan. 18. For more information, you can check out their myspace page at myspace.com/dessinator.

by STACEY DEWOLFE

 

Queer roots at McGill

San Francisco scribe Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore draws on a deep well of queer activism. “I feel a strong connection to the ’80s experimental radical queer writers like David Wojnarowicz,” says Sycamore.

STAR SHOCKED: Sycamore

“When I first read his writing, right after he died, I sensed in his work my feeling of a bit of hope in the world of loss, and also my rage at the world. There’s also a connection in my activism to both fringe ’70s gay liberation and Act Up, which was the formation of my queer politics and of being able to talk about race and class and gender as one unit.”

Sycamore will be reading from her new novel, So Many Ways to Sleep Badly, as part of Culture Shock, two weeks of myth-busting events on the McGill University campus (www.qpirgmcgill.org). The reading takes place next Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. in room S 1/4, Stewart Biology Building (1205 Dr. Penfield). Free.

by VINCENT TINGUELY

Let there be light

Looking above for inspiration, the CCA (1920 Baile) examines the diverse history of skylights in their latest exhibition Toplight: Roof Transparencies From 1760 to 1960.

OPEN CONCEPT:
Penn Station, 1936

Consisting of photographs, prints and drawings, all of which are culled from the centre’s own library and archives, the exhibit explores the social, cultural and political catalysts behind the use of glass in architecture.

Included in the exhibit are images of the first large-scale glass roof construction at the Halle au blé in Paris. Completed in 1782, the see-through roof was meant to contradict rumours of stockpiling or price hiking. London’s Crystal Palace, the Louvre and Detroit’s own Ford Motor Company also feature prominently in the show, alongside New York’s early working-class tenements and the city’s original Penn Station.

Berenice Abbott’s 1936 photographs, displaying the station’s cathedral-like grandeur, are perhaps the most impressive in the show. Especially if you’ve ever visited its current incarnation of bleak, labyrinthine concourses buried deep under Madison Square Gardens. Until Feb. 15.

by SACHA JACKSON

Is it art?

4 X 4 CRUSHERS: Forget Halloween, something equally scary is coming to Montreal this weekend—one that could involve mullets of the non-ironic kind!

The Monster Spectacular rolls into the Olympic Stadium this Saturday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. bringing with it big wheels, big names and big destruction. Many top North American names will be present, including Bounty Hunter, Jurassic Attack and world champion Bigfoot.

The evening will include the Full Pull National Challenge, in which modified trucks and tractors go head-to-head in the ultimate test of strength, pulling several tons of various materials for a distance of 400 feet.

Monster purists, however, won’t want to miss the crushing of various ill-fated vehicles (cars, vans and school buses) during both the obstacle and car-jumping contests.

It’s not all 4 x 4’s and revving engines though; this year also features ATV freestyle. The California-based ATV freestyle team Bomb Squad, which features Quebec City native Christian Gagnon, will be on hand to perform numerous ATV back flips. Tickets are $17.50-$34.50.

Arts hole

ART WITH A CAUSE: Non-profit organization Shield of Athena Family Services hold their 15th annual art auction this coming Sunday, Nov. 2 at Marché Bonsecours (350 St-Paul E.). Proceeds go to the organization, which offers services and shelter to women and children who are victims of violence.
• EASTERN ROMANCE: Blue Metropolis founder Linda Leith launches her memoir Marrying Hungary tonight, Thursday, Oct. 30 at 5:30 p.m. at Nicholas Hoare (1366 Greene).

Artistat

The amount it’ll set you back to see Don’t Fear the Laughter, taking place this Saturday, Nov. 1 at Kola Note (5240 Parc) at 7:30 p.m. featuring Joey Elias, David Acer and illusionist Jason Acoca: $32.50