Montréal, January 16, 2007. The Projections series at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal resumes with a comprehensive survey of Milutin Gubash’s video works since 2004. And even before the screenings begin, the artist has been selected by the Montréal Mirror as one of its “Noisemakers 2007.” Milutin Gubash: Lots will run from January 24 to March 4, 2007.
Gubash has pursued a multidisciplinary practice revolving around video, photography and performance since 2002. He first made a name for himself in 2003 with the webcast project Re?enacting a tragedy while my parents look on, in which he “re-created,” with his parents, various tragic news stories reported in the Calgary Herald (Man Falls 12 Stories to Death; Softball Kills Boy at Church Picnic; Man Beaten and Set Afire). Gubash himself plays the part of the victim, dressed in a dark suit that becomes a sort of signature for the artist in the videos.
Lots
With a running time of about 70 minutes, Lots comprises two video series—Near and Far and Lots—as well as the video Tournez created for the Télétaxi project. Each of his projects builds, in spiral fashion, on earlier works, revisiting their sites and characters. As Louise Ismert, who is in charge of multimedia events at the museum, explains: “Each new piece contains something of the previous one, and through this perpetual mise en abyme—this endless series of pictures within pictures—the conceptual framework of his works becomes ever more complex.”
In Near and Far, his first series, made up of six videos produced in 2004 and 2005, Gubash returned to the scene of Re-enacting a tragedy (Bridge, Park, Parkade, Mountain, River, Drive-in), together with his family and friends, who played themselves on screen, while he took the role of a character. In the 17 videos in the Lots series (2006), Gubash invents a story around a borrowed suit and a mission to be carried out: “This notion of a ‘quest’ is to my mind a metaphor for the creative process itself.”
And all with tongue firmly in cheek!
Milutin Gubash
Born in Yugoslavia in 1969, Milutin Gubash grew up in Calgary, Alberta. He followed up studies in philosophy and photography at the University of Calgary with an M.F.A. in photography at ConcordiaUniversity in 2000. He went on to teach photography and digital imaging at the University of Saskatchewan. His work has been presented in various solo and group exhibitions, including: Near and Far, at VU, Centre de diffusion et de production de la photographie, in QuébecCity (2005); Télétaxi, at Year Zero One in Montréal, with the participation of Dare-Dare and CRUM (2005); and Plan large, at Montréal’s Quartier Éphémère (2003). This will be his first one-man show at the Musée. Gubash lives and works in Montréal.
Meet the artist
Milutin Gubash will meet the public on Friday, February 9, 2007 at 5 p.m., in BWR Hall. The meeting will take place in English.
Performance with WWKA
Mark your calendars for another artistic and … culinary event: Milutin Gubash will give an original performance at the museum, along with Women With Kitchen Appliances, on March 3, 2007 at 9 p.m. as part of the fourth edition of the Montreal High Lights Festival All-Nighter. WWKA describe themselves as a collective of three, four or five or six, with a variable geometry, who are: “Identical. Interchangeable. Disposable. And dead serious.” And who, as their name indicates, play on a “drum” set of kitchen appliances. Hilarious and most entertaining!
The Musée d'art contemporain is located at 185 Sainte-Catherine Street West, Place-des-Arts metro. Hours: Tuesday to Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission: Adults: $8; Seniors: $6; Students: $4; Families: $16. Free admission for children under 12 and members of the Fondation du Musée. Free admission for all on Wednesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. Information: (514) 847-6226. Website: www.macm.org.
The Musée d'art contemporain is a provincially owned corporation funded by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec. It receives additional funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts, as well as from Lichen Communications.
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