In 2013 Montreal saw a shake-up in the upper echelons of the art milieu – particularly all things involving Alexandre Taillefer, president of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, board member of the Biennale de Montreal, and "dragon" in Radio Canada's new version of The Dragon's Den. Former MACM Director Paulette Gagnon and Chief Curator Marie Frasier resigned their positions in the spring not long after Taillefer's orchestration to amalgamate the faltering independent Biennale de Montreal within the MACM. Nicole Gingras also resigned her post as Director of the Biennale and Sylvie Fortin (formerly Editor of Art Papers out of Atlanta) was eventually hired to replace her. With Taillefer's new vision of the MACM underway, including a $40+million expansion, John Zeppetelli (formerly curator at the neighbouring DHC/ART) was hired as Director/Chief Curator. After this dizzying game of institutional musical chairs, we await to see the results!
My favourite exhibition of the year has to go to Concordia University's Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery's presentation of Actors, Networks, Theories, curated by Montreal gem Vincent Bonin. Featuring relevant work by a host of artists, the exhibition uses as its starting point the deferred reception of "French Theory" by Anglophone art communities in the 1970s to explore gaps between publication/presentation and translation/re-presentation. Both conceptually and formally Bonin's curatorial effort is simultaneously tight and loose – providing a careful rigour, but allowing for malleable readings and loose ends to flourish. Dense with artist works and ideas, the exhibition could be overwhelming for the viewer, but Bonin's simple and precise exhibition design make it a pleasure to walk through. With works by, among others, Mary Kelly, Andrea Fraser, Ian Wallace, and local artists Thérèse Mastroiacovo and Jon Knowles, this exhibition (which continues until January 25) about the complexities of translation is perfectly located in an Anglophone university within a French-speaking province.
Valérie Blass, La partie pour la chose, 2013, digital print, watercolour on matte paper
And lastly, a new body of work by Montreal artist Valérie Blass rocked her show at The Hole earlier this fall. The exhibition was in NYC, but the work emerged from her prolific Montreal studio. I'm looking forward to her upcoming show at Parisian Laundry in the new year.
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 new Montreal correspondent and can be followed @susannahwesley1 on Twitter.
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2013 Critic's Picks
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