|
Arty like it's 1999 >> Warming up with work from Haiti, Guinea and Spain by KEITH MARCHAND
Nevertheless, there are a number of art shows worth taking in, should you have to go into town for supplies or medical attention any time this winter. Roving video As usual, the cultural arm of the city of Montreal has a staggering number of options available to gallery-goers at the various Maisons de la culture. A Look at Video: Vidéographe Turns 25 profiles the first video-access centre in North America, which over the last 25 years has been instrumental in putting Quebec on the map for electronic arts. The exhibition focuses on the role the organization has played in the production, distribution and preservation of the medium. It presents the most outstanding productions from the 1970s, '80s and '90s by Canadian and international video artists, and offers a well-researched history of videomaking in Quebec by curator Marie-Michèle Cron. And hey, all visitors will receive a poster-catalogue free of charge. A Look at Video runs at the Maison de la culture Côte-des-Neiges until January 24. It then goes to the Dorval Cultural Centre until March 10. The Ville Saint-Pierre City Hall, Maison de la culture Plateau Mont-Royal and the Verdun Cultural Centre will also host the show as the year progresses. Black in colour The Maisons have also lined up interesting programming for February, Black History Month. Côte-des-Neiges will feature a photography exhibition on Guinea, taken by Marie-France Coallier. The Maison de la culture NDG will host two shows to celebrate black culture and history. La Peinture Haïtienne: un événement historique illustré will present a history of Haiti as seen through the eyes of native (and so-called naïve) painters. And Noir en Couleurs will examine the way blacks have been portrayed in the media in Quebec, by looking at publicity and advertising over the years. Tripping on film Until February 7, the Cinémathèque québécoise presents an exhibition titled Voyage au pays de Méliès. Put on by the George Eastman House's International Museum of Photography, this show will feature photos from pioneering French filmmaker George Méliès. Perhaps best known for his 1902 film Le Voyage dans la lune (trust me, you'd recognize it if you saw it), Méliès went on to make over 500 films. He was also the first filmmaker to carefully document his work with photos. Shadow puppets Running from January 21 to April 25 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will be an exhibition of the work of the Spanish artist with the musical name, Eulalia Valldosera. This will be the artist's first-ever solo exhibition in North America and it will feature two installations and three performances on video. Valldosera is best known for her ability to turn enormous gallery spaces into magical shadow-puppet theatres with little more than empty slide projectors and found objects.
|
If you're anything like me, your tendency this time of year is to hole up all snugly and warm inside of your trailer and wait for winter to go away. And while you polish your pistol collection in front of your 78" television set, you congratulate yourself that you've got enough pork scratchings and pizza-pockets to last you all winter. If you ration properly and learn to eat snow for fluids, you won't have to resurface before spring.