Freeze frame

by SIOBHAN O'CONNOR

Now that all the millennial hype has finally been shushed, it's a perfect time to take a look at the new group exhibit at the Musee d'art contemporain. Millennium My Eye! (Head Over Heels), a playful and irreverent multiform exhibit showcasing 23 artists, does its job taking the piss out of end-of-century doomsayers. With about a dozen media represented, it's broad in scope but unified by its overarching humour: each piece adds levity to a decade that was "filled with gloom," according to curators.

Filled with paradoxes, each of the pieces is absurd in its own right, from Robert Therrien's vertiginous, spiralling bed to Serge Comte's Post-It note nudies to Peter Land's endlessly looping fat-man-falling-down-the-stairs video. One of the more striking pieces is Kim Adams' installation--an old red VW bus adorned with a CP train set, dinosaurs, Sailor Moon dolls and naked action figures. Also on show are an automated eight-piece drum set, a clever video depicting a man seducing his camera and "Thundering Prairie Dog" structures hooked up to booming mics for your noise-making pleasure. The exhibit is worth a good look: few of the artists let their goofiness overshadow their comments about the absurdity of our times. (To April 23.)

The folks at Galerie Mistral have made international people-watching an easy task for those of us who aren't going anywhere this season. Showing 'til Feb. 18 is the work of a trio of photographers who have travelled the world over. Czech-born Iva Zimova shows Kosovo & China, photos taken in these two global hot spots. Alongside her is Montrealer Alain Chagnon, whose photography has been revered in museums nation-wide. His collection, De Villes en deserts, is the product of his six-week trip through the U.S. By juxtaposing American pop-cultural icons like Marilyn Monroe with the more downtrodden faces he came across, Chagnon comments on the irony of the "American Dream." The third entry is from German-born Lutz Dille, whose experiences as a prisoner in WWII inspired him to document the urban spaces around him.

Donald Lawrence conquers new photographic territory in his exhibit Kayak Works. His deceptively simple-looking photos document aquatic inter-tidal life from his seat, snug inside a kayak. Lawrence raises obsession to an art form; his passion for seascapes and for pushing the limits of his medium inspired him to (re)invent the underwater camera. By lowering his camera into the water, he's produced a series of ethereal shots. (Feb. 17-March 26 at Vox.)

To help usher in the spring, Millie Chen offers an overwhelming olfactory experience at Centrale Galerie Powerhouse (April 1-May 6). She uses rare and musky spices as her medium and arranges them based on classical Oriental aesthetic principles. Sure to be a nice break from melting-snow stinkiness.

On the mysterious and modern tip, Galerie Clark offers Daniel Olson, an artist who plays with the ever-blurring lines between artistic media. He fuses video projection with live action, in an expression of the more nebulous and perplexing sides of life. Fittingly, he remains tight-lipped about the details of his project. See for yourself as of March 2. :