Goddesses on ‘Le Grand Balcon’: Biennale de Montréal’s Concordia contingent
Hemlock Forest (production still), 2016, by Moyra Davey | Courtesy of Biennale de Montréal
This year’s Biennale de Montréal, BNLMTL 2016, opens today. It showcases 45 international artists — and a half dozen of them are Concordians.
All six attended the university’s Faculty of Fine Arts.
Their work — which ranges from the sculptural to the performative, and from installations to print — will be displayed at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MACM) and at other sites across the city from October 19, 2016, to January 15, 2017.
Curated by Philippe Pirotte, BNLMTL 2016 tackles the theme “Le Grand Balcon,” inspired by a Jean Genet play that examines the space between reality and illusion.
The exhibition explores material and sensual approaches to art. It features work by Haig Aivazian, BFA 06; Moyra Davey, BFA 82; Myriam Jacob-Allard, BFA 09; Brian Jungen, attendee 93; Celia Perrin Sidarous, BFA 08, MFA 15; and Walter Scott, BFA 09.
Eric Simon, chair of Concordia’s Department of Studio Arts, is proud of the number of graduates who are taking part. “It says to me that our students go on to be successful and contributing members of the contemporary arts community.”
“Marble egg, seashell and images,” 2015, by Celia Perrin Sidarous | Courtesy of Biennale de Montréal
This is not the first time the Faculty of Fine Arts has had strong representation at the Biennale de Montréal. In 2014, 13 of 50 total participating artists hailed from Concordia.
At BNLMTL 2016, Davey and Perrin Sidarous are both showing new work.
Davey, who was nominated for the 2016 Scotiabank Photography Prize, revisits her 2011 video Les Goddesses, pursuing her investigation of motherhood, loss and questions of representation. Perrin Sidarous premieres a new installation that explores the kinship between photography and sculptural forms.
The mission of the Biennale de Montréal is to foster, support, interpret and disseminate the most current visual arts practices.
In a press release, MACM director John Zeppetelli, BFA 84, said, “‘Le Grand Balcon’ will definitely position BNLMTL as one of the most influential contemporary art biennials on the planet.”
Don’t miss Concordia’s artists at BNLMTL 2016: Biennale de Montréal. Or discover all that the Faculty of Fine Arts has to offer.
This news story was first published on June 21, 2016; it was updated on October 19.
