Launch of the Winter Season at the MAC

Montréal, January 15, 2008. To usher in the winter season, the MAC has organized no less than three new exhibitions of artists from Quebec and across Canada, a new Projection series, Nocturnes on the first Friday of every month, a symposium on the art market, plus a Montréal All-Nighter with a lounge theme.

Director Marc Mayer is enthusiastic about the exhibitions featuring Canadian artists: “Geoffrey Farmer is the artist’s largest exhibition to date. Nothing we know about the Vancouver scene could have predicted this work. At age 80, Arnaud Maggs has been foremost among photo-based conceptualists working in Canada for over four decades. We are also proud to present Yannick Pouliot’s first solo exhibition in Montréal, his most spectacular so far.”

Exhibitions

Geoffrey Farmer
February 8 to April 20, 2008

Geoffrey Farmer is without doubt one of the most individual and disconcerting voices in Vancouver’s artistic community today. Drawing inspiration from both conceptual and installation art, his work is grounded in an accumulative aesthetic, recombining sculpture, video, performance, drawing and found objects. From a perspective that allies poetry with social commentary, Farmer examines such subjects as history, popular culture and art history, exploring the fictional power and ever changing nature of exhibiting. The exhibition is comprised of some 20 works created over the past 15 years, several of which were conceived specifically to debut in Montréal. Geoffrey Farmer lives and works in Vancouver.

Yannick Pouliot
February 8 to April 20, 2008

Experimenting with various media, including photography, video and sound, Yannick Pouliot is known for his spectacular, insightful and poetic pieces such as Le Courtisan, which is on view in the Museum’s Atrium. Pouliot’s series of prints, sculptures and a major architectural installation are expressions of his fascination with the concept of domesticity. Transforming Regency-style furniture to reflect a very contemporary psychological focus, Pouliot produces an astonishing fusion of the body, furnishings and architecture.

Arnaud Maggs: Nomenclature
February 8 to April 20, 2008

Nomenclature presents two recent series of photographs by Arnaud Maggs: Cercles chromatiques de M. E. Chevreul and Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, both seminal studies in the language of colour. In what is essentially a photographic essay on the human desire to list and categorize all natural phenomena. Maggs examines our subjective notions of nature and the limits of science. A native of Montréal, Arnaud Maggs now lives and works in Toronto.

Arnaud Maggs: Nomenclature was organized by the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Ontario.

Projections
Artur Zmijewski: The Singing Lesson I and II
February 6 to March 2, 2008

The works of Polish artist Artur Zmijewski tend to defy social taboos, affirming his view of art as a battle for the conscience. In his video recordings The Singing Lesson I
(2001, 14 min) and The Singing Lesson II (2002, 16 min 30 sec), Zmijewski films singing lessons with deaf children who form an unlikely choir, first in Warsaw and then in Bach’s own church in Leipzig.

Max and Iris Stern International Symposium III
The Contemporary Art Market
March 8, 2008

The third Max and Iris Stern symposium will be devoted to the international contemporary art market. Guest speakers (gallery owners, artists, collectors, sociologists, economists, journalists, directors of fairs and biennials) are expected from Montréal, Toronto, the United States and Europe. Lectures will be in French and English.

Nocturnes
The Musée’s doors are open until 9 p.m. the first Friday of each month. From 5 to 9, you are invited to enjoy an evening of the unexpected. On the agenda: entry to all the exhibitions, live music and bar service. Upcoming Nocturnes will be on February 1 and March 7. No reservation is required. Admission with either the general Musée ticket or the new $10 Wired card.

Nuit blanche/All-Nighter
Night of March 1 to 2, from 6 p.m. to 5 a.m.
As part of the Montréal High Lights Festival, the Musée invites festival goers to experience the rhythm of creation, performance and music. Night owls will be able to take in exhibition “clips” (speed tours of selected works), live music and a DJ performance. Also available is a bar service with drinks concocted by Mixoart, including the brand new “Nuit blanche.” You’ve got carte blanche to create your own program among the nine exhibition galleries on the Musée’s three floors. And apart from the drinks, it’s all absolutely free of charge!

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Source and information:                                              
Danielle Legentil                                                         
Public Relations Coordinator                                      
Tel.: (514) 847-6232                                                 
E-mail: danielle.legentil@macm.org