It was a decisive year for Canada as a nation. We became politicized in a way that I’ve never witnessed before, and the Montreal art community was no exception. As I sifted through the projects and exhibitions I experienced in 2015, I noticed that some of the more compelling ones connected, in one way or another, with a desire for change. 
Shuvinai Ashoona & Shary Boyle, Black Marble
Shuvinai Ashoona and Shary Boyle’s collaborative exhibition Universal Cobra, currently on view at Pierre-François Ouellette Art Contemporain, is one of the best gallery shows I’ve seen this year. The project emerged from time the two artists spent together in Cape Dorset. Ashoona’s drawings are complex, beautiful and insightful, and while I’m not always a fan of Shary Boyle’s practice, the works she has included in this show, particularly the sculptures, are among her best. The two artists have also created a number of collaborative drawings where their heterogeneous styles lusciously compliment one another. Catch this symbolic of example of “Nation to Nation” collaboration before it closes on Dec 19!
In Justin Trudeau’s riding of Papineau, artist Chris Lloyd made the run-up to election day that much more interesting. Between his subversive tongue-in-cheek infiltration of the local Conservative riding association, to becoming the official Tory candidate for Papineau, his resignation, and return as an Independent candidate, Lloyd’s project engaged and challenged the democratic process and the Conservative Party in particular. Plus seeing his “Chris Lloyd for Papineau” signs around the neighbourhood, delightfully illustrated by artist Clément de Gaulejac, was an added bonus!
I first found out about the Entrepreneurs du commun’s Monument to the Victims of Liberty in the SBC’s dense and engaging exhibition Talk Show. The collective’s multi-platform project is a counter response to the Harper government's Memorial to the Victims of Communism. Consisting of an open call for proposals, exhibitions, a symposium, walks, and other events, the Entrepreneurs du commun’s project thoroughly explores the instrumentalization of the concept of liberty in relation to the idea of commons. Now with the new government pulling their funding, the collective might just get their wish.
Susannah Wesley is an artist and curator living in Montreal. She has been a member of the collaborative duo Leisure since 2004 and from 1997-2000 was part of the notorious British art collective the Leeds13. Formerly Director at Battat Contemporary in Montreal, she holds an MFA from the Glasgow School of Art and an MA in Art History from Concordia University. She is Akimblog's Montreal correspondent and can be followed @susannahwesley1 on Twitter.
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2015 Critic's Picks
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