The surreal and hyper-real

HAIRY SITUATIONS: (l to r) work by Laforge and Brandt

The image is compelling: a young girl, standing barefoot in a simple black dress, her features disguised by a mane of hair that covers her face and hangs down to her waist. That there are echoes of surrealism seems beside the point, as the artist, Montreal-based Fred Laforge, is driven by a different desire. Seeking to investigate the many different aspects of the human body, his work speaks to what the artist describes as “the spectral memory of past existence.”

You can check out Laforge’s show, Temnein, at Galerie SAS (372 Ste-Catherine W., #416) tonight, Thursday, Nov. 5 at 5:30 p.m. Sharing the gallery with Laforge is Laurent Craste, an artist famed for his ceramics, whose newer work has become more interdisciplinary. His latest show, Esthétique du saccage, comprises video images projected onto decorative ceramic surfaces.

Rounding out the show is Toronto-based painter Joshua Brandt, whose Leaps of Faith features hyper-realistic paintings and what the artist calls “moving images” of people caught in the act of falling. Though stylistically different, Brandt’s project connects to Laforge’s on a thematic level: his figures show their shock, their vulnerability, and their humanity.

by STACEY DEWOLFE

Visitable paintings

Silent forest landscapes, dramatically hatted characters and a suspended still life of disembodied appendages provide just a taste of Sylvie Bouchard’s lexicon of personal and borrowed symbols as seen in her new exhibition, Abracadabra at Galerie Division (372 Ste-Catherine W., #311).

The Montreal painter, whose 2005 solo show at the Musée d’art contemporain probed the meaning of painting itself, updates de Chirico and Magritte’s uncanny vernacular in large painting installations, which she refers to as “visitable paintings.”

For this show, she returns to works on canvas, but the idea is much the same. “‘Abracadabra,’” the show’s eponymous painting, “could have just as well been titled ‘Where Is the Painting,’ in that different iconographic references overlap within the same image, bringing the subject into question,” Bouchard explains.

Another work, “Vek,” has a Russian influence. “The title comes from a Russian word that symbolizes the link between two eras, the transition from one century to the next.” It’s an appropriate title for an artist whose work brings together sundry styles and references, often under the uncertain atmosphere of a grey forest haze.

The vernissage takes place this Saturday, Nov. 7, 5–7 p.m.

by DAVD LEVITZ

One woman, three plays

Wollongong, Australia-native Sarah Quinn will be outting Other People’s Problems at Théâtre Ste-Catherine (264 Ste-Catherine E.) until Nov. 8. Audiences will be privy to the performer’s world-weary wit during the solo show, which presents a triumvirate of dark comedies based on people’s personal problems and the commodification of self-help.

The charismatic characters, played by Quinn (whose credits also include producer and playwright) with resolve and intensity, seem to have life all figured out. Montreal comic, and Quinn’s partner, DeAnne Smith wrote the first play, Your Life Starts Tomorrow, an in-your-face, personal-development seminar led by a life coach with questionable sanity. Quinn’s Good Authority covers the pitfalls of new-media celebrity and Samuel Booth rounds out the show with Self Help, about a lady willing herself away from sexual repression. “They’re a bunch of really nice people to inhabit,” says Quinn.

Tickets $12–$17, info: (514) 284-3939 or e-mail info@theatrestecatherine.com to reserve.

by LINA HARPER

Betting on poetry

Like the painter Frank Stella, GG-winning poet and translator Erín Moure believes the only risk an artist really takes is the first risk—the decision to make art. Hence the title of her first collection of essays, My Beloved Wager.

“My beloved wager is ‘yeah, I’m gonna bet on poetry,’” says Moure. The book traces the threads of her thinking on subjectivity, citizenship and translation during her 25 years as a Montrealer.

“I tend to talk about what I’m doing. In a sense it’s the thinking behind the poetry that ends up in the essays,” Mouré explains. She joins San Francisco poet Norma Cole and Vancouver’s Stephen Collis at the Green Room (5386 St-Laurent), Sunday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. She launches Expeditions of a Chimæra, her collaborative book project with Oana Avasilichioaei, Wednesday, Nov. 11 at Librairie Le Port de Tête (262 Mont-Royal E.), with readings from 7–8 p.m.

by VINCENT TINGUELY

IS IT ART?

BUTT BLOCKER: For anyone who’s ever looked at their pet’s posterior and thought “Gross!” Rear Gear’s got you covered. As the name suggests, Rear Gear are handmade doodads that tie onto your pet’s tail and cover their unsightly asshole.

Made in a variety of different styles (many of which seem to take inspiration from rear-view mirrors of the ’70s), including a disco ball, air freshener, a number one ribbon and a sheriff’s badge, Rear Gear also takes special orders and sells for a reasonable $5 (plus shipping) through crafty site Etsy.com (search Rear Gear).

Beyond bleaching your pet’s anus, this is probably the closest you’ll get to, “No more Mr. Brown Eye.”

Arts hole

Tusarniq FESTIVAL: The second edition of Tusarniq, a festival of words, music and images by indigenous artists, kicks off tonight, Thursday, Nov. 5 with a performance by Kinnie Starr. It runs through Nov. 6 with events at both Casa del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent) and Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent). For the full schedule and details, see wiredonwords.com. • AND, ACTION!: Artist Eliza Griffiths exhibits her latest work Action Paintings at Galerie McClure (350 Victoria). The vernissage takes place tonight, Thursday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m. • AND, ACTION!: Artist Eliza Griffiths exhibits her latest work Action Paintings at Galerie McClure (350 Victoria). The vernissage takes place tonight, Thursday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m.

Artistat

The amount local designers Ève Gravel and Station 8 will be cutting off the price of current and past collections during their sample sale, happening, Thursday, Nov. 5–Nov. 8 at 5455 de Gaspé, #1006: 50% +