Opening reception: July 20 from 3-5pm
Fresh Paint / New Construction : Eddy Hofbauer, Lynn Price, Kellen Deighton, Brigitte Lochhead, Erika Dueck, Hillary Smith, Marijana Mandusic, Patrick Klassen, Barbara Hobot, Danielle Fricke, Jared Peters, Rebecca Chin, Amanda Rhodenizer, Audrey D’Astous, Nicholas Breton, Tiffany Fehr, Neil Harrison, Nicole Clouston, Rachel Ludlow, Victoria Murawski, Ali Kramers, David Kaarsemaker, Victoria Ransom, Aidan Pontarini, Brendan Flanagan, Kevyn Deroucher, Phillipe Lefebvre, Blanche Louis Michaud, Cassandre Boucher, David Martineau Lachance, Frédérique Duval, Gabrielle Lajoie-Bergeron, Cynthia Fecteau, François Raymond, Guillaume Tardif, Sarah Booth, Annie Onyi Cheung, Conor Fagan, Thomas Seymour
Text by Michael Patten
Art Mûr’s ninth annual summer group exhibition Fresh Paint / New Construction presents the latest trends in painting, sculpture and installation from students working towards their Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Canada. This year, we are bringing together 130 recent artworks from thirty-nine emerging artists selected by professors from some of the best universities in the country including: Emily Carr University of Art + Design, University of Manitoba, University of Western Ontario, University of Waterloo, York University, University of Ottawa, Concordia University, Université du Québec à Montréal, Université Laval and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.
This event has proven to be a benchmark of future success for the students. Every year, a significant number of past participants become finalists in the RBC Canadian Painting Competition, the BMO Financial Group’s 1st Art! Invitational Student Art Competition, and professional practicing artists with representation. As in previous editions, the 2013 selection testifies to the versatility and diversity of emerging visual practices and to the talent of a new generation of Canadian artists. Below are just a few examples of this innovation and quality found throughout this exhibition.
Erika Dueck (University of Manitoba) explores the form and function of memory with her large-scale suspended sculpture of paper and cardboard. Comprised of several interconnected miniature rooms contained within a suspended paper shell, these intricate dioramas are littered with paper, boxes and books – like a scene from the reality television program Hoarders. According to the artist’s statement, some mental house cleaning may be in order to help us remember the things that count.
David Martineau Lachance (UQAM) embraces formalism with his series of playful and uncanny sculptures based on archetypes from our collective imagination. His sculpture Né un jour d’éclipse (Born on an eclipse) is an armature covered in blue and grey felt strips that looks like something between Barkley from Sesame Street and the rotating brushes from a carwash. Rooted in childhood, these weird and wonderful elements conjure feelings of nostalgia and wonder.
Neil Harrison (York University) investigates the relationship between art and language. Utilizing a hard-edge painting style, he references a range of communication symbols, such as public signage, pictograms, hieroglyphs, and logos. This complicates the reading of the abstract form which blurs the line between the aesthetic and the instructive.
In nine years, Fresh Paint / New Construction has established itself as a major artistic event on Montreal’s summer cultural calendar. It is also significant step forward in the careers of participating artists, allowing their work to be noticed in a professional context.
