Big guns and small fries

Our art critics’ picks of exhibits large and small

SHOLEM KRISHTALKA’s picks

I am usually suspicious of major museum shows. Often thematic cohesiveness, intelligence and insight get lost amid the transparent desire for a money-making blockbuster. So it is with some surprise that, looking back upon the past year of shows, the majority of my top five picks are from the major museums.
The Musée d’art contemporain (MAC) deserves top billing for packing the year with absolutely first-rate fare. First, their Metamorphosis and Cloning managed to be a thorough, intelligent bit of curating, maintaining a diverse, high-quality line-up. Besides which, any exhibit that can get 2,500 Montrealers to the downtown core, naked, at
5 a.m. to be photographed by globe-trotting photographer Spencer Tunick, deserves some kind of applause.

The MAC’s second 2001 achievement is the Shirin Neshat show. Neshat’s work is gorgeous, emotionally tense, and deeply moving. Once again, the MAC scored a curatorial coup by presenting her work in a manner which let her videos speak (and most often, wail) for themselves. There were no frills, no gimmicks and it worked like a dream.
The Musée des beaux arts deserves kudos for Piranesi-Goya-Chapman: Roma Fantastica & the Sleep of Reason: Works From the Fondazione Antonio Mazotta. Despite some hitches (it was strange to see these three artists in the same show), the copious amount of Goya prints alone was worth the price of admission. Goya carried that show as only he could, and he gave us all cause for reflection, even 200-odd years later.
Also, even though it opened in Nov. 2000, Hitchcock: Fatal Coincidences ran through April 2001 and deserves a mention here. Combining exhaustive art historical research and originality of presentation, the show came off as one of the best that the MMFA has held in years.

Finally, it is with some joy and relief that I can say that alternative shows and venues can still pack a wallop. The massive in-site installation Hôpital was far from perfect, yet the sheer inspired originality of the concept and presentation made it something to behold. In a stunning affirmation of the artistic impulse, they made beauty out of abjection, and that, at least, is a triumph.

CHRISTINE REDFERN’s picks

There was a lot of great art to see in the city this year and the good news is some of it you can still catch over the holidays. One such show is BGL’s In the Shelter of the Trees at the MAC. This Quebec City collective continues to make art about our consumer society and instead of the dull diatribe we might imagine on this topic, their message is delivered via a labyrinthine maze of recycled materials that’s both disorienting and engaging. Another exhibition that stood out at the MAC this year was Artcité, a huge undertaking that brought some of the museum’s permanent collection into the streets and offices of Montreal, often with a sense of humour.
Tissues urbains, organized by the Conseils des arts textiles du Québec, linked contemporary textile arts and video. The show convincingly united the two fields, which we often consider to be at opposite ends of the spectrum of contemporary arts. If you missed the exhibition you can still get a feel for it from the comprehensive Web site www.catq.qc.ca (in French only).

Moving Ideas: A Contemporary Cultural Dialogue With India, was a massive project, organized by Hoopoe Curatorial, that included two exhibits: Secular Practice: Recent Art From India at Oboro and Dust on the Road at the MAI. Part of Dust on the Road was an overview of the work of SAHMAT, a loose coalition of Indian artists from all disciplines. Their public art interventions in India, that unite politics, history, art and the general public, were amazing examples of the power and potential of art in society.

Lastly, if you haven’t had the opportunity of viewing the terrifying, humorous, inventive prints of Goya, one of the greats, now is your chance to see them at the MMFA.
Honourable mentions: Pierre Ayot retrospective and Picasso érotique at MMFA; the site-specific art happening Hôpital, that took place in the abandoned Bellechase Hospital; and at MAC: Stéphane Gilot’s architectural installation Free Will, the opportunity to lie naked on Ste-Catherine street for photographer Spencer Tunick and Shirin Neshat’s exhibition of photographs and videos on women’s experiences in Islamic society, on view till Jan. 13, 2002. <<