The Art Bank at the 2016 Art Souterrain festival
The Canada Council Art Bank is proud to participate in the 2016 edition of Art Souterrain, a contemporary art festival that showcases artworks throughout Montreal’s underground city. Both organizations have the common goal of making the visual arts accessible to a wider audience by displaying artworks beyond traditional exhibition spaces. By integrating them into our daily lives, we encourage the public to familiarize itself with the artists, institutions, and promoters of modern and contemporary art, thus enriching the cultural life of Canadians. Considering that the Art Bank collection includes over 17,000 works, how did we select the eight artists that we are presenting, among the 3,000 artists represented in the collection? To begin with, we focused on artists that are from Montreal, or have practiced their art in the city, over the last 50 years. We started with the two questions that Art Souterrain asks for its 2016 edition: 1. Must art be appealing, must it seduce? 2. Does the omnipresence of mass media universalize taste, and distance us from subversive or conceptual trends? In order to seduce we must first captivate, capture one’s attention, so in that sense – yes, art must seduce. Take for example the work of Claude Tousignant entitled Accélérateur Chromatique 80, from 1967.
Claude Tousignant, Accélérateur Chromatique 80, 1967, acrylic on canvas
Tousignant practice a style of painting referred to as "hard-edge" which is defined by the geometric rigor of its compositions and the uniformity of its color schemes.“I discovered that within a certain structure, color acquires a huge vibrational quality and these pure chromatic vibrations open a whole new field of research.” Claude Tousignant
That is the first step of seduction: capturing attention, purely. Does the omnipresence of mass media universalize taste, and distance us from subversive or conceptual trends? The notions of "familiarity" and "popularity" are concepts that often come to mind when talking about mass media or universal taste. The work entitled Survival Japanese Cooking by Shié Kasai seduces the viewer by presenting food which, at first sight, seems strangely familiar.
Shié Kasai, Survival Japanese Cooking (detail), 2008, photo
“People often ask me, when they find out that I am Japanese, to recommend them the best sushi restaurant in town. [...] In response, I pledge to make sushi that I consider to be very Canadian. [...] I am committed to choose only Canadian and/or Québecois products. [...] This sushi will present itself as a new hybrid form, becoming even more exotic while trying to be less so, due to my own exotic perception of Canada.” Shié Kasai
We invite you to come explore the issue of seduction in art, and the many sub-themes that relate to it, namely wonder, subversion and discomfort. The Allure of Choice February 27 to March 20, 2016 Opening: Nuit Blanche, February 27 at 6pm Stock Exchange Tower, 800 rue du Square-Victoria, Montreal Artists: Louis Archambault, James Carl, Ulysse Comtois, Jacques Hurtubise, Denis Juneau, Shié Kasai, Alain Paiement, Claude Tousignant