Opening reception: Saturday, September 12, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Ginette Legaré : Triangulations
Text by Virjiny Provost, translated by Valeria Márquez Reynoso
In the objects that surround us, there are functions that time has rendered obsolete, stories hidden beneath the surface.
A forgotten meaning, an interrupted gesture, a material that still bears the memory of a past use. Chairs, magnets, pieces of plastic, scraps of rubber… all familiar elements which, when torn from their context, seem to elude their own definition. The exhibition Triangulations is part of this practice of reconfiguration, like a space where points of reference shift. Much like parallax–that shift in perspective which transforms what we thought was stationary–Ginette Legaré’s work is built upon the instability of perspectives. Here, the object reveals itself and then eludes us. We must therefore learn to observe it differently: to move closer, move further away, circle round it, seek an angle that did not yet exist. In this case, looking is not synonymous with recognising.
Legaré is interested in found or salvaged objects and the systems of meaning to which they belong. These discarded materials are thus diverted from their original context and brought together according to different logics, like fragments of a language to be reinvented. What was once intended to assemble, support, close, suspend or contain is thus imbued with a new purpose: that of lending itself to unexpected encounters.
However, these encounters (and their interpretations) remain in a state of constant flux. For example, the work Parallactic literally plays on the variation in the viewer’s perspective: constructed from reclaimed wood and a metal fastener, the object appears to change depending on the position from which it is viewed. Perception thus becomes a material in its own right, as malleable as the elements that make up the works. The titles themselves also seem to play a part in these shifts. Either/Or, Under Erasure, As it turns out, From end to end, Upstaged: through suggestion, language becomes, in a sense, an additional material, opening up new possibilities for interpretation.
This focus on the gaze ties in with a memory that continues to linger in the artist’s mind: that of a time when understanding the world meant, first and foremost, observing it, before the explanations and knowledge of others came to define its contours. Through this way of approaching the unknown, everything (and its possibilities) thus remains open, undefined. Legaré’s approach remains imbued with this initial openness. Her assemblages seek not so much to resolve the enigmas they raise as to allow them to unfold. For her, this element of uncertainty is not an obstacle; it is a space. Her practice reflects a tactile and intellectual curiosity that prioritises detours over categorical answers and lingers where things cease to be self-evident.
Beyond being a series of playful and unconventional constructions, Triangulations functions as a genuine succession of perceptual situations, within which multiple interpretations can coexist. By transforming the ordinary without ever erasing it completely, the artist brings forth a different perspective–not necessarily a more accurate one, but a new one. And in that slight shift of the gaze, the world, for a moment, regains a touch of mystery.
Ginette Legaré thanks the Ontario Arts Council as well as the Toronto Arts Council for their support.
