MONTREAL.- The Mus閑 d’art contemporain is pulling off a major coup this summer with the inaugural edition of The Qu閎ec Triennial: Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed, scheduled to run from May 24 to September 7, 2008. This is one of the most ambitious exhibitions ever of contemporary Qu閎ec art, and one of the largest exhibitions in the museum’s history.
Resembling a vast research project, The Qu閎ec Triennial is the product of extensive fieldwork and deliberation by the museum’s team of curators, who combed countless exhibitions and artists’ studios to provide us with a group portrait of the current artistic scene in Qu閎ec. And for the first time in our history, all of the museum’s galleries will be devoted to a single show.
This inaugural edition presents some 135 works in various media—drawing, installation, painting, performance, photography, sculpture and video—by 38 artists and collectives, including a program of video spot artworks created and screened in collaboration with T閘-Qu閎ec that was launched this past May 14. Most of the artists are showing at the Mus閑 for the first time. Featured in the exhibition are:
David Altmejd, David Armstrong Six, Nicolas Baier, Gwena雔 B閘anger, Patrick Bernatchez, Val閞ie Blass, Anthony Burnham, Cooke-Sasseville, Patrick Coutu, Michel de Broin, Rapha雔le de Groot, Manon De Pauw, Julie Doucet, Doyon-Rivest, Louis-Philippe Eno, St閜hane Gilot, Cynthia Girard, Romeo Gongora, Charles Guilbert et Serge Murphy, Adad Hannah, Isabelle Hayeur, Bettina Hoffmann, Jon Knowles, Manon Labrecque, Emanuel Licha, Lynne Marsh, Michael Merrill, Tricia Middleton, Adrian Norvid, Jonathan Plante, Yannick Pouliot, Jocelyn Robert, David Ross, Carlos et Jason Sanchez, Karen Tam, Chih-Chien Wang, WWKA (Women with Kitchen Appliances) and Etienne Zack.
Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed
Putting the exhibition together was quite a marathon. After an initial, exploratory phase, the curators drew up an exhaustive list of artists, covering all disciplines and generations. Then, over the summer and fall of 2007, they followed up with visits to studios and exhibitions, and numerous meetings as they refined their search for formally and thematically innovative practices that showed a high degree of mastery. Out of this process, 38 artists and artists collectives were selected. The showcased works all reflect an openness to the present in their approach to fundamental issues. They also attest to the vibrancy of Qu閎ec art, as well as its diversity and relevance.
Only when it came down to the final selection was the title chosen, inspired by the nature of the works included and Lavoisier’s famous maxim: “Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed,” which was in turn borrowed from Greek philosopher Anaxagoras of Clazomenae.
