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show cobbled togetherto legitimize assassinated to John-Paul 11on his which means this plus this plus that, dans la maitrise et l'aplomb de ces
its curator ("my worldview, my fave deathbed, from Charlie Chaplin on and so on. This demonstrative portraits les substrats de l'objectivite
artists, my playlist, my moods, roller skates to Che Guevara and attention to art as a potential (rather allemande, le grise de la neige sale en
etc."). Wrong. Both the pretext and Silvio Berlusconi. Leopold Kessler than acquired) formula and, by plus. Le format choisi augmente plus
the title of this show turn out to be exhibits some very ordinary ready- extension, to the virtues of poly- encore 1'espace de la galerie, chaque
very relevant. So, "OK": surely the mades: a refrigerator, a television, semia, is far from innocent. It both image apposant sa ponctuation
most frequently spoken word in the etc. But the way they work is weird: pleads for the suspension of judg- severe et rep6titive, suivant une
world. While it usually signals the fridge opens when visitors ment from the spectator and scenographie unique, un mouvement
agreement, it can also signify its approach and peremptorily expels valorizes aesthetic surprises, which arrete toujours identique. Une
opposite: exasperation, giving up, its contents, and you have to bang are always on the margins and impression de regularite sereine
especially when the sound is hard on the television to switch it off always ahead of us. emane des portraits, 6tablissant ce
dragged out (Okaaay). And, as we or on. The airlocks devised by Bob Paul Ardenne rare equilibre entre interpretation
are informed by the lexical list Gramsma are fascinating, like Translation, C.Penwarden critique et suspension emotionnelle.
included in the catalogue for this sumptuous spaceships. Curiously Si les formats de Grandmaison renfor-
show by its organizer, Marc-Olivier enough, though, they open onto cent les effets plans par leur resolue
Wahler, the very effective artistic nothing, except themselves. Chris- I afffltddl -1 verticalite, Michel de Broin, chez
director of New York's Swiss tian Andersson's work on lighting Pierre-Francois Ouellette, creuse dans
Institute over the last ten years, the brings to mind Michel Verjux: big la profondeur des entrailles : obsede
actual word "OK" has no certified round patches of light, almost tran- promenade par l'orif ice et le tube qui relie le corps
Divers lieux
linguistic origin. Funny that the scending their plastic form. Except Avril -mai 2005 Ason exterieur, il bricole un boyau se
most commonly used word in our that when you stand in front of qui se deploie hors de son logis, ici un
vocabulary should also be one of Andersson's light circles, you note Au coin de la rue Cherrier et de la tres frigo qui, telle une bete monstrueuse,
the most intriguing. the absurd, total lack of shadow on animee rue Saint-Denis, Atrois metres laisse sortir ou rentrer son ver solitaire
Quite literally, the exhibition the lit surface. Even Ben Woodeson au-dessus d'un chic cafe francais, au travers des cloisons. Approchez-
OK/Okay sets out to illustrate this dark "techie" installations are une femme au regard triste amorce vous, I'animal cyclope et diaphane
semantic hesitancy. By definition, disturbing: the appearance is a red sans conviction l'ouverture d'une vitre part se cacher dans son trou, comme
art is spectacular, a visual statement thread wrapped around a metal coulissante. Translucide comme un gant retourne, pour y rester terr6.
in the mode of the obvious. And it column, the reality: a beam that l'iNmage, le Verre occupe plus des Phallus, anus, viscere ou lombric, le
is this obviousness, which in fact is heats the metal and very slightly deux tiers de l'image, troublant le tuyau retractile a la vertu du mouve-
rather unclear, that is explored in increases its size. visage d'une trentenaire lasse, dans ment, comme un organisme vivant:
this exhibition, laid out in two What we can sense behind this exhi- un decor vide, AI'arriere-plan absent. il suggere autant la pulsion libidinale
distinct spaces (which it uses at bition, like a kind of background II s'agit d'une des deux photogra- qu'une animalite primitive que l'on
times with considerable subtlety: noise, is Duchamp's infra-thin. And, phies installees in situ dans la ville de ne retrouverait que dans d'etranges
see the series of paintings by to put it simply, it's rather good. By Montreal, extraites de la serie Verre fonds abyssaux. Le frigo en contre-
Gabriele di Matteo, with the original nature, art produces forms that que Pascal Grandmaison presente A point permet une mise en perspective
and copy presented side by side). distort: it tells true or truly false lies, la galerie Rene Blouin. La serie de de cette mobilite tubulaire qui s'infil-
Each of the works here allows (at sometimes both at once. And so it portraits tres silencieux montre des tre organiquement dans le corps de
least) two semantic approaches. can only simulate what it represents personnages se recueillant un instant la machine. Une machine denaturee,
Valentin Carron, for example, and play games with reality, its devant ce verre qui ne s'ouvrira transformee et sans autre fonction
exhibits canvases by Mondrian and decidedly asymmetrical other. With jamais. Nonobstant la transparence que d'abriter son alien aveugle:
L6ger in all their glory but has had OK/Okay, Marc-Olivier Wahler aims supposee de la photographie, la tran- Dedans/dehors joue A faire de la
them reproduced on pieces of to reaffirm the relativity of the mean- quillite inquiete qui se degage de ces science-fiction bon marche avec des
leather and presents them to us in ing of art, plus the crazy preten- figures separe le spectateur des adul- robots animes dans leur version proto-
the unexpected form of Indian tiousness of any reading that is not tes anonymes. Ils ressemblent Ades zoaire.
trophies. In Gabriele di Matteo's open. As opposed to "hard" or membres de la famille, des voisins Parmi ces artistes canadiens, tous
hundred or so small pictures relat- would-be definitive expressions, entre deux ages, d'une beaute incer- nes au debut des annees 1970, on
ing the key moments of human this approach approves the fecun- taine, celle des quidams urbains, aux peut faire mention, 3 la galerie Arti-
history from the origins through to dity of the aesthetics of the "and" visages flegmatiques, un peu cule, de Juozas Cernius : Dogs, ce
the present, we see that all the or, as Umberto Eco defines it, of the penches, levant leur bras droit comme sont des chiens morts tendance
figures are naked, from Caesar .etc.": the work of art as artifice pour un toast imaginaire. On distingue psychedelique, repeints A la Warhol
sur des photographies, dans un
espace evide. On est loin de la charo-
gne naturelle d'un Eric Poitevin ou
d'une Zoe Leonard. Une collection
de cadavres fort raides, trouves peut-
etre dans la rue ou un jardin, mais en
bon etat et presentes les uns derriere
les autres, comme pour un concours
canin post-mortem. Certains flottent
dans l'espace photographique, d'autres
semblent tourner sur un vieux disque
vinyle : Juozas Cernius avait dej3
presente un travail similaire avec des
images de passants et d'armes Afeu,
nimbant le tout d'une certaine
violence larvee, la scene etant situ6e
dans une banlieue americaine peu
frequentable et indeterminee. Dans
1'espace d'exposition, un etrange
parallele est etabli avec des couples
d'adolescents interchangeables aux
joues 6carlates, photographies et
tiOk / Okayo. Bob Gramsma filmes par Larissa Fassler (Teens):

76
 quality and self-assuredness of interchangeable, ruddy cheeked-
these portraits seemed grounded couples constituted a flesh and
in German objectivity, to which he blood, feminine counterpoint
adds a dirty-snow gray. The formats marked by the freshness of chaste
i
chosen made the gallery feel even pubescent love grounded in the real
bigger, each almost identical image world, most definitely living bodies
- 1 serving as a severe and repetitive that touch with no restraints, divi-
punctuation of an unchanging, sions or artifices.
& I
,
i
i
t
frozen movement. The portraits
produced an air of serene regular-
ity, establishing a rare equilibrium
Magali Nachtergael
Translation, L-S Torgoff

between critical interpretation and Pascal Grandmaison, Gal. Rene Blouin,

a suspension of emotions. April 2-May 7. Michel de Broin, Gal.
If Grandmaison's formats reinforced Pierre-Frangois Ouellette, March 5-April
the flat effect through their absolute 17. Juozas Cernius and Larissa Fassler,
verticality, Michel de Broin's work at Gal. Articule, March 26-May 1.
the Pierre-Francois Ouellette gallery
plunged into the depths of entrails.
Obsessed by the orifices and tubes
connecting the inside of the body la mode et le style dans la
and the outside world, he put
together a hosepipe extending out photographie
of his dwelling, in this case a fridge Divers lieux
that like some monstrous beast let 15 mars- 17avril 2005
out and retracted its solitary worm
through a sphincter-like opening. Cette biennale, dont c'est la quatrieme
When approached, the cyclopean, edition, repondait, lors de sa creation
diaphanous animal runs away to en 1999, au besoin de faire connaitre
burrow into its hole, like an inside- la photographie de mode russe qui
out glove. Phallus, anus, guts or commencait 3 peine 3 s'emanciper
worm, the retractile pipe has the des modeles occidentaux. En I'ab-
virtue of movement, like a living sence de toute tradition et de toute
organism. It is suggestive of both ecole dans ce domaine, les revues
libidinous impulses and a primitive occidentales, dans un premier temps,
animality to be found only in the leur version russe ensuite, commen-
Montreal. Pascal Grandmaison. WVerren. 2003-04. Photographie. ICourt. galerie darkest depths. The refrigerator, on cerent 3 ouvrir leurs pages aux cr6a-
Ren6 Blouin). 'Glass' the other hand, gives us a certain teurs russes, relayees depuis par des
perspective on this tubular mobility magazines autochtones qui font
that organically slips into the body travailler stylistes, modeles et photo-
of the machine. A denatured, trans- graphes etrangers comme russes.
At the corner of rue Cherrier and the formed machine, with no function Une des galeries du grand magasin
very lively Rue Saint-Denis, on the other than to house its blind alien. GUM accueillait les productions de
facade above a chic French cafe, a Dedans dehors (Inside Outside) is ces nouvelles revues qui voisinent
sad-faced woman starts, without really science fiction on the cheap, dorenavant avec Vogue, Harper's
much conviction, to open a sliding with a protozoan being rather than Bazaar, Elle ou l'Officiel. La creativite
glass window. As translucent as the time-stop animation robots. russe s'y deploie avec son sens d'un
whole photo itself, the glass pane Among these Canadian artists born baroque narratif, certains photogra-
she is holding occupies more than in the 1970s, another worthy of phes elaborant des scenarios ou leur
two-thirds of the image and some- mention is Juozas Cernius, whose imagination fertile frise le kitsch, tout
what blurs the face of the weary work is at the Articule gallery. His en essayant de renouveler le genre,
woman in herthirties standing in an Dogs gives us psychedelic dead comme Georgiy Rozov ou Evfrosina
empty space with no background. dogs painted Warhol-style on Lavrukhiva. Cette derniere 6tait egale-
This is one of two pieces installed in photos, in an empty environment. ment presente dans une des exposi-
situ in the streets of Montreal, taken This is nothing like the natural dead tions phares du festival, le projet
from a series entitled Le Verre that flesh of Eric Poitevin and Zoe Fabrica, qui illustre 3 merveille toute
Pascal Grandmaison presented at Leonard. A collection of stiff l'ambiguit6 de cette nouvelle societe
Montreal. Michel de Brain. (Dedans/ the Ren6 Blouin gallery. The very corpses, found in the streets or a tiraillee entre une certaine nostalgie du
Dehors}. 2001-04. (Court. galerie Pierre subdued portraiture suite showed back yard perhaps but in good passe sovietique (Samorodova) et l'af-
Fran9ois Ouellette). "Inside/Outside" various people caught in acontem- condition, presented one behind firmation d'une nouvelle identite russe
plative moment behind this glass the other as if in a post-mortem dog (Tchilikov) parfois onirique, comme
un contrepoint charnel et feminin qui pane that never opens. Despite the show. Some float in the photo- dans cet astral poeme visuel de Tish-
a la fraicheur des chastes amours supposed transparence of photog- graphic space, others seem to rotate kov et Bendikov, la Lune privde.
pubbres, ancrees dans un reel ou les raphy, the impression of worried on old vinyl records. Cernius Concu sur un double axe croisant
corps bien vivants se touchent sans calm these figures gave separated showed similar work previously, photographie historique et coritem-
barriere, cloisons ou artifices. viewers from these undistinguished with scenes of passers-by and poraine d'une part, artistes etrangers
Magali Nachtergael adults. They looked like members of firearms, the whole thing tinged et russes de l'autre, le festival offrait
the same family or neighbors, with a certain implicit violence. The au visteur cette constante alternative.
Pascal Grandmaison, galerie Rene Blouin neither young nor old, with the scenes were located in unidentified A c6te de r6trospectives hors pair
(2avril - 7 mai); Michel de Broin, galerie uncertain beauty of the urban and unalluring American suburbs. (Riboud, Witkin, Horst), de la rede-
Pierre-FranVois Ouellette (5 mars - 17 anonymous, their phlegmatic faces At the same gallery, a strange paral- couverte de travaux cibles (Rodt-
avril); Juozas Cernius et Larissa Fassler, tilted slightly forward, raising their lel to Cernius' work was established chenko), I'accent est mis cette ann6e
galerie Articule 126 mars- 1 mai). right arm as if about to make an by Marissa Fassler's sets of films sur les accointances avec le cinema,
imaginary toast. The magisterial and photos entitled Teens. These grand createur de mythes et de styles

77
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

TITLE: Promenade: Divers lieux [Montr%eal]

SOURCE: Art Press no314 Jl/Ag 2005
WN: 0518204392026

The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and it

is reproduced with permission. Further reproduction of this article in
violation of the copyright is prohibited.

Copyright 1982-2005 The H.W. Wilson Company. All rights reserved.