With Glass, Under Glass, Without Glass

Catherine Widgery, Silence and Slow Time, 1994
Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal Collection

The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, a proud partner in the event  “Montréal City of Glass,” will offer an innovative look at its Permanent Collection in a dazzling new exhibition.

With Glass, Under Glass, Without Glass showcases a dozen major works chosen from the Musée Collection and produced by nine artists. The presence of glass as a significant component is the principal basis for this selection.

Glass, neon and mirrors; sculpture, architecture and furniture; film screenings, miniature painting and the blank page of paper: these are all elements and media found in the narrative or demonstrative, formalist or poetic works brought together here.

A shattering mirror in Le Tournis, 2008, by Gwenaël Bélanger (Québec), fanciful miniature worlds depicted in negative view in Les Petits Métiers, 1985, and Les Offrandes, 1986, by Philippe Favier (France), a table lavishly set with glass dishes and a glass chandelier in Les Hôtes and Le Grand veilleur, 2007, by Claudie Gagnon (Québec), a glass house in the film installation Home, 1986, by Wyn Geleynse (Ontario), a glass filing cabinet holding blank sheets of paper in Classifié, 1994, by Claude Hamelin (Québec), a neon work in Ciboulette, 1968, by Jacques Hurtubise (Québec), a glass table based on the Fibonacci numerical sequence in Tavolo, 1978, by Mario Merz (Italy), transparency and opacity of filiation in Mère obscure, père ambigu, fils accompli : Agathe, 1994, by Stephen Schofield (Québec), glass and neon sails in La Salle, 1980, by Keith Sonnier (United States) and a surrealistic sculpture of a bathtub in an aquarium in Silence and Slow Time, 1994, by Catherine Widgery (Québec).

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In Connection with the Exhibition With Glass, Under Glass, Without Glass

Point[s] of View Series
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

As part of the Point[s] of View series, a guided tour of the exhibition will be offered by Josée Bélisle, curator of the exhibition and of the Musée Collection, on Wednesday, May 12 at 6:30 p.m., in French, in the exhibition galleries. The activity is free of charge.

Reading Room
April 27 to October 3, 2010

In keeping with the theme of the exhibition With Glass, Under Glass, Without Glass, the Media Centre has put together a selection of publications from its reference collections. In the Eaton Lounge across from the Centre on the second floor, you will find an assortment of books on glass in contemporary art, contemporary stained glass and ways of working this material, and, in a showcase, a display of invitations featuring works in glass. A program of videos on the topic of architecture and glass will also be presented. Scheduled works:

La Médiathèque de Sendaï. Director: Richard Copans. Paris: ARTE France, Les Films d?Ici, Ministère de la Culture, direction de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, Centre Pompidou. 2004, 26 min, in French.

L'espace que j?ai vu? un portrait de l?architecte Pierre Thibault. Director: Anne-Marie Tougas. Montréal: Tougam. 2007, 52 min, in French.

La maison de Jean Prouvé. Director: Stan Neumann. Paris: ARTE France, Les Films d'Ici, Ministère de la Culture, direction de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine, Centre Pompidou. 2004, 26 min, in French.

The Eaton Lounge is open the same hours as the Media Centre: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Guided Tours

Guided tours of the exhibition With Glass, Under Glass, Without Glass will be offered by the education team on Wednesday evenings at 5, 6 and 7:30 p.m. in French and 6:30 p.m. in English, and on Saturdays and Sundays at 1 and 3 p.m. in French or English. Free of charge.