EXHIBITION

Photo: Wolggang Schunck

Artist biography

Jacqueline van de Geer is Dutch and moved to Montréal in August 2005. She was born in Rotterdam, a place scarred by two bombings during the Second World War. Growing up in a city that was always being rebuilt informed her process, for which she has developed a 'do a lot with almost nothing' ethos. Intimacy and reconnection are key to her work, which aims to open up participants’ collective experience. Everyday life, Dada, surrealism and personal memories are key inspirations for her work.

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Becoming Sparkling

During the residency, Jacqueline offered a series of workshops to groups of French- and English-speaking seniors. Among other things, participants took part in automatic writing and collage exercises, aimed at constructing an individual subjective narrative to which memories of events over the past 70 years were linked. The groups also posed for a photo session aimed at revealing the beauty of the golden age, often hidden in our society's quest for perpetual youth. Traces of these workshops will be activated in a performance by Jacqueline, as well as in an intergenerational dance activity.

The artist proposes a space activation on June 15, an intergenerational slow dance party on June 22, and a performance with Annie Baillargeon on June 28. Click here for more information on these events.

Photo: Carlos St-Marie

Artist biography

Born in Victoriaville, Annie Baillargeon studied visual arts at Université Laval in the city of Québec, where she lives and works. Her career includes solo and group exhibitions in artist-run centers and museums, as well as numerous appearances at major events in Québec, Canada, the United States, South America and Europe. She co-founded two performance collectives: Les Fermières obsédées from 2001 to 2015, and B.L.U.S.H. since 2015. She is represented by Chiguer art contemporain in Montréal and Québec. Her work is included in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.

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Cosmology of Mutations

The installation Cosmology of Mutations takes inspiration from the concept of the somatheque, developed by philosopher Paul B. Preciado, to create an archive of bodies and states of joy. A world away from standardized representations, the artist invites participants to form this archive by taking part in workshops aimed at reappropriating devices normally used for surveillance - security cameras, smartphones, cameras, ID card or passport photographs. The photographs resulting from these workshops are integrated by the artist into a large-scale video mosaic, bringing together the individual contributions of each participant into a pulsating, vivid image, as well as into a sky map composed of recycled paper, made by the artist in collaboration with atelier retailles and activated in a performative gesture.

The artist will also offer a performance within the work, conceived in dialogue with the interdisciplinary collective NU.E.S on June 7, and a performance with Jacqueline van de Geer on June 28. Click here for more information on these events.