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The holly and the IV >> Morbid-Moon offer welcome darkness in this season of light by KEITH MARCHAND
On now at Isart is an untitled exhibition that offers something more akin to H.P. Lovecraft than to Martha Stewart. It's a collaboration between two artists, Philippe Mayer and Julie Robinson, who work under the moniker Morbid-Moon. Mayer and Robinson met three years ago while in rehabilitation. She had suffered a stroke, leaving her paralyzed on her right side, and he had survived a brain tumour. Together they formed a working bond in order to analyze and chronicle their arduous recoveries. Their work is infused with a dark and tortured quality that offers the occasional glimpse of hope and humour. The duo mix their choice of media quite freely. They often combine painting with various objects scattered over the work. Wood screws, peacock feathers, cutlery, surgical tubing, toys and circuit boards are just some of the objects used in what the artists term "3-D painting." Indeed, the works do inhabit an area somewhere between sculpture and painting. In a piece titled "1996," we are offered a round canvas that has been lathered with crimson paint. Protruding from the canvas are a doll's head and arms, a bird, wilted flowers and vein-like surgical tubing. Another work called "Boulevers-sang" features a collage of newspaper clippings, electrical parts, postcards, a razor blade and pink plastic flowers on a background of fun fur. "L'Ecorché océanique" features a painting of a gutted fish being held open with twine. Forming strict patterns in the background is a lattice-work of matchsticks, shells, keys, locks and spools. "Pédophile en porcelaine" features a bandaged infant sitting against a bloody background. There are dark shadows cast as the beleaguered toddler stares out of the heavy dressing wrapped around its head. In contrast, the border features downy, cotton clouds with angelic, cavorting porcelain cherubim. As with most of the works featured in the show, the piece displays a union of anger and frustration, yearning and optimism. Their palette relies heavily on the sanguine and many of the found objects used are meant to, either, menace or seduce. There is an ongoing fascination with the body and its (seemingly) delicate inner workings. Often the works deal with the concerns of the artists in a humourous--albeit twisted--way. In a piece called "Still Walking," a life-like human foot is presented on a dais and housed within a fish tank. The foot is covered with gashes that have been stitched together with wire. There is a button sewn onto the ball of the ankle and the toes have been connected together with cable. Conjuring up both science experiment and Mary Shelley creation, "Still Walking" raises questions about the status of human health in relation to technology. When does the body, despite medicine enabling it to function, cease to be human? The exhibition runs until December 19, at Isart, 263 St-Antoine W.
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Your holiday season does not have to look like the set of Kathie Lee's Christmas Special. Nor must you deck any halls, eat any figgy-pudding or have anything to do with holly and/or ivy. Yes Virginia, it is still possible to find amputated limbs and shredded doll-parts amidst the tinsel, the carollers and the sugar plum fairies.