COZIC (Yvon Cozic and Monic Brassard) with three of their artworks in the Art Bank collection.
COZIC is among the winners of the 2019 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts—and a luncheon recently held in their honour presented an exciting an opportunity to get to know COZIC better. COZIC is an art duo who self-describes as a single, two-headed artist with four hands. Its art thwarts any and all attempts at classification.
In an interview at the luncheon, COZIC spoke about the numerous obstacles encountered by their art, which is created out of unconventional, ordinary materials to bring everyday life and the arts closer together and question the preciousness of the arts. The Art Bank was among the first institutions to give COZIC’s art a seal of approval, which—as Yvon Cozic mentioned in the interview—had occasionally been, up to that point, perceived as trinkets or toys.
COZIC’s practice is rooted in the idea that art can be experienced differently when it appeals to multiple senses. It’s a matter of touching, feeling, and understanding the different levels at play in their works. A pop angle is also evident, through the idea of “decomplexifying” art to make it playful—art otherwise, art according to the rules of COZIC.
Monic Brassard explains that COZIC “gives people materials, shapes… and with them, people can build whatever artwork they want—it’s interesting, and all combinations can be interesting. Let your imagination soar.”
One of COZIC’s works is part of the 2019 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts exhibition, organized by the National Gallery of Canada in collaboration with the Canada Council for the Arts. The #GGarts exhibition is on display until August 5, 2019.
The first museum retrospective dedicated to COZIC’s work will be presented at the Musée national des beaux-arts de Québec this fall. Entitled Over To You, the retrospective will run from October 10, 2019, to January 5, 2020.
About the Author: Evlyne Laurin
Evlyne Laurin is the manager of the Art Bank’s art rental program. She travels the world in search of the best contemporary art and food on offer. Evlyne is committed to sharing her passion for art and making art as accessible as possible.