From Richelieu
to resistance
>> Parachuting, people politics and posters
make for a catch-all fall

by MATTHEW WOODLEY

The end of summer art-surge is upon us, and the visual crops of the coming months are growing fast.

Several new exhibits are making their way to the grand galleries of town. At the mothership Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Richelieu, Art and Power shows how the French Cardinal and his sidekicks used art to push their political and cultural agenda. Two-hundred-plus sculptures, architectural plans and decorative objects, many of them commissioned by the man himself, give a glimpse into Richelieu’s vision and the intellectual and domestic life of 17th century France (until Jan. 5).

At the Musée d’Art Contemporain, Atom Egoyan’s foray into the realm of reel-to-reel continues until Oct. 20. Out of Use looks at the relationship between technology and memory, largely fuelled by old analogue recorders donated by Montrealers. Coming soon to the MAC is an exhibit of work by British artist Sam Taylor-Wood, whose large-scale photographs and video installations shine the light on people’s communication problems, and aim to bring out a similar feeling of vulnerability in the viewer. (Oct. 11–Jan. 5). Nadine Normand’s multidisciplinary exhibit, I’m available. How about you? is her interactive take on the roles and functions attributed to women (Nov. 21 through Feb.), while Alexandre David’s somewhat minimalist sculptures, drawings and paintings are on display from Sept. 19–Nov. 3.

At the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron stray from structure into more playful terrain with Archaeology of the Mind. A massive collection of models, photographs, toys, fossils, insects and various dug-up goods—they call it “accumulated waste”—the exhibit works as a museum within a museum where the artifacts are much more fanciful than scientific (Oct. 23–April 6).

Much ado about multimedia
In the past decade, tech-happy artists have been coming out of the circuitry boards. Not that e-art is such a recent thing, 1960s avant-gardists were making algorithm art left and right. But multimedia, whether computerized or just videocentric, is abundant, plugged in and ready to stimulate as many senses as it can this season.

Cité des Ondes, Champs Libre’s biannual International Manifestation of Video and Electronic Art is a “poetic reinterpretation” of the Centre-Sud neighbourhood. The fifth installment of the event looks at the architecture and urbanization of the area through a range of techno-based programming centred around the Craig Pumping Station on St-Antoine E. (Sept. 16–23).

Gilles Morisette and Edward Pien’s Liminal is at the MAI, inviting viewers to interact with an installation that incorporates digital sound, video and slides, while keepin’ it natural by projecting the images onto handmade paper (Sept. 12–Oct. 12). Meanwhile, at Dare-Dare, Jean-François Courtilat takes on humour, the body and death in Psychopompe, with video, installation and drawings (until Oct. 5).

“Banalystics,” the everyday trajectory of common human beings, is in focus at Oboro, as Jocelyn Robert tries to capture those random fleeting moments where “things come to a standstill” in his audio/video exhibition, Catarina, et autres traveaux recents (Sept. 14–Oct. 19). Daniel Laskarin’s exhibit, Illusion, Catastrophe, Suspense uses video and sculpture to take us to places “between the familiar and unknown,” at Articule (Oct. 12–Nov. 10).

Extreme sports will get you all revved up in Turning Point, a collaboration between artist Paul Litherland and aerial performer Bertrand Cloutier. The parachuting duo use video to share the feeling of freefall, at Optica (Sept. 13–Oct. 19).

Social statements
A few years ago, Adbusters conducted an experiment by putting billboards in a few big cities with the slogan “Nothing™, it’s all you’ll ever need” and a 1-800 number underneath. Within a few days, gullible folk were calling up to find out where they could buy this particular product. Mathieu Doyon and Simon Rivest have taken a similar approach with their large-scale billboards, all garnished with the slick “Doyon/Rivest,” logo of their fictional advertising firm, set up so that the host gallery becomes the subject of the billboard and arranged so as to make viewers feel claustrophobic. It’s at Articule from No. 16–Dec. 15. Keeping with the political, Arts NDG presents Beyond the Catastrophe, an exhibition where four artists examine violence, from wars to ecological disarters to 9/11 of course, using various media (until Sept. 30).

Drawing Resistance is a travelling art show of revolutionary political posters from 31 international artists with something to say about a multitude of social issues from anti-globalization and corporate control to the Zapatista liberation movement in Mexico. It’s at Elle Corazon until Sept. 30. Also on the international tip, Hope is an exhibition that aims to instill just that. Born of an eight-month stint in various Asian countries, Guillaume Simoneau’s arresting photos of people have a strong socio-political edge. They show at Tremblay-Monet from Nov. 27–Dec 8.

At La Centrale, Silvie Cotton makes public encounters the centrepiece in her art-action, Substitution (until Oct. 5). The exhibit runs parallel to Tagny Duff’s Télépresence, a cell-phone guided tour from the gallery through five city locations that unfolds over a half-hour period. For detailed info, check out www.tagnyduff.com/montreal.

A few other exhibits worth checking out this fall: Château Dufresne is the site of Chassé-Croisée, with a bunch of different works from different artists, among which are some really cool folk-artsy figurines (until Oct. 13). Several artists come together at the gallery of the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the exhibit Regarding Landscape II (Sept. 27–Oct. 27). Han Art has an exhibit of paintings by Michel Casavant until Sept. 29, while four installations called The Thinking Eye take over Galerie Gésu until mid-November. Carla Guttman’s Requiem is her “first step toward producing theatre,” a show of costumes, props, giant photo backdrops and collages opening on Dec. 11 at Galerie TM.

And the list goes on, so keep your eyes open. :

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