Summertime in Paris: KINDLING
June 23–July 30, 2011
Opening:
June 22, 2011 6pm–9pm
PARISIAN LAUNDRY
3550 St-Antoine West (between Greene and Bel-Air)
Montréal, QC
H4C 1A9
PARISIAN LAUNDRY presents its annual Summertime in Paris exhibition featuring Jaime Angelopoulos, Chloé Desjardins, Luc Paradis, Rachel Shaw and William Villalongo from June 23, until July 30, 2011. Opening June 22, 2011 6pm to 9pm.
This year’s edition of Summertime in Paris is presented with the theme of “kindling” in mind. The five artists assembled here are likened to the material that ignites a fire. Their work is evocative of a strong and vibrant future for their individual practices and sparks the flame of interest that is reflected in the eye of the observer. With the temporary nature of “the new” in mind and its popularity within the last decade in the world of contemporary art PARISIAN LAUNDRY presents this grouping as “post-new”: a humored term for what is emerging as a concern for work that carries forth with a regard for the future, however apocalyptic or utopian it may be. These artists demonstrate a rigorous sense of the significance of art making, and speak to the post-new as embodying the adventure of the new with a regard to consequence, revealing the trope of the oft used three letter word. The kindling sparks and is transformative, affecting all that surrounds it. Summer may be fleeting but Summertime in Paris awakens the everlasting desire for art through the selection of five “new” artists to be presented at PARISIAN LAUNDRY.
Luc Paradis and Rachel Shaw engage with an essential play of space in their painted canvases; both work with fragmented horizons where objects float oddly in space and landscapes are piled together. These images are disconnected from a realistic picture plane, instead they provide a space that calls upon the viewer to think about composition and contemplate an altered sense of this. In calling forth the representation of space and its truth values, the textured sculptural work of Chloé Desjardins and graphite drawings of Jaime Angelopoulos are framed around a sense of haptic viewing, asking the body to gauge the subtle variations in texture that seem to scream out for touch. Finally, William Villalongo implores the viewer once again to contemplate space, texture, and truth, where flocking is used to frame windows onto his re-imagined painted mythologies, their kitschy aesthetic reminiscent of cheap decor; the stories they tell pointing to the fact that history has always been a construction.
Luc Paradis is a self-taught Montréal based artist; he has exhibited his work at the 27th Symposium of Contemporary Art in Baie St-Paul, QC and Oboro gallery among others. Montreal-based Rachel Shaw recently completed her BFA from Concordia University in Studio art, she has exhibited her work for Art Pop Montreal and at the FoFA gallery of Concordia University. Chloé Desjardins is currently completing her MFA at Université du Québec à Montréal; recipient of a 2011 Pierre-Ayot grant, Desjardins has exhibited her work in various locations throughout Montreal. Toronto-based Jaime Angelopoulos recently completed her M.F.A from York University; she has shown her work at the Banff Center for the Arts and the Ann Leonowens gallery in Halifax NS. New York City-based artist William Villalongo hold a master’s degree from the Tyler school of Art at Temple University; his work can be found in the collections of the Studio Museum in Harlem and The Princeton University Museum among others.
During Summertime in Paris PARISIAN LAUNDRY will equally exhibit works by represented artist Rick Leong, and an important selection of recent acquisitions from the Tedeschi collection.