MONTREAL’S MUSEUMS BRING US BACK INSIDE OUR MINDS FOR FALL
As the city winds down from this summer’s return of gatherings, open-air festivals and other cultural activities for every taste, Montreal’s museums are offering richly diverse autumn programming, curated to stimulate the mind and entertain the spirit in more reflective environments.
In what’s likely to become a top draw for art history enthusiasts and casual admirers alike, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) presents Seeing Loud: Basquiat and Music from Oct. 15 to Feb. 19, 2023.
“Bringing together paintings, installations, music and film, Seeing Loud: Basquiat and Music is the first large-scale, multimedia exhibition devoted to the role of music in Jean-michel Basquiat’s practice,” described Mary-dailey Desmarais, MMFA’S chief curator and curator of Seeing Loud.
Jean-michel Basquiat emerged from New York’s nascent graffiti scene in the late 70s to become a darling of chic Manhattan galleries. Attention from art world figures such as Jeffrey Deitch and Andy Warhol ushered Basquiat to prominence in the Neo-expressionism movement until his sudden death in 1988.
The Brooklyn-born artist, the son of Haitian immigrants, Basquiat holds a lasting and increasingly prolific impact on the intersection of graphic arts, political expression and music - the focal point of the exhibition.
“(Seeing Loud) will provide an innovative, in-depth look at Basquiat’s own musical practice, the sounds that accompanied his mark-making and the musicians who inspired him,” said Desmarais.
“Basquiat celebrated black artistry and tackled the complexities and cruelties of history, bringing to life the sounds that inspired him and the soul of his historical moment. These are among the reasons that his art resonates so powerfully to this day. More than merely a soundtrack to his life, music was manifested in his art as sign, symbol and sound.”
A collection of visuals, rare archival materials that include never-before-exhibited film footage and archival research, Seeing Loud promises to cast new light on the impact that music had on Basquiat’s practice, and vice versa.
The MMFA fall season kicked off earlier this month with Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me.
The installation from the Toronto visual artist combines ceramics, drawings, kinetic sculptures and an interactive soundtrack which the museum describes as an exploration of “the performative aspects of identity” in the age of social media.
“The works in my exhibition do not directly or literally respond to social media or address the tech platforms they exist on. The collection of this work as a whole speaks to the self rather than selfies,” Boyle said via email.
“Outside the Palace of Me is the opposite of social media in that way: the artwork asks us to look behind our online avatars, and reflect on ourselves and each other with humanity, responsibility and empathy.”
Outside the Palace of Me runs until Jan. 15, 2023.
Pointe-à-callière Museum (PACM), meanwhile, delves into deeper history with their centrepiece fall exhibition, Headdresses From Around the World: The Antoine de Galbert Collection, opening Nov. 17.
Galbert, a French private collector, lends the Montreal history museum over 300 pieces of traditional headwear from around the world. Curated by over 30 years of research, Galbert’s collection of hats and helmets, crowns and tiaras, turbans and bonnets tell a unique tale of identity with each piece.
With this exhibition, the museum invites visitors to an immersive experience that discovers the heritages of new Montrealers and their cultural roots through the lens of headdresses from across the eras and from far and wide across the globe, said PACM executive director Anne Élisabeth Thibault.
“If a headdress adorns the head of all of humanity, it also bears witness to the customs and beliefs of the peoples that are represented in its various forms and functions,” Thibault offered, paraphrasing Galbert.
“In a sense, headdresses take us on a journey and are an invitation to discover amazing cultural diversity, while giving us some insight into what binds us as humans.”
Headdresses From Around the World continues until March 12, 2023.
Over at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Arts, two new fall programs offer three completely new perspectives on established understandings.
Oct. 13 welcomes the return of Mohawk multimedia artist Skawennati’s virtual reality Time Traveller series, which the museum describes as “a postcolonial rereading of the history of Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island.”
These free screenings take place at MAC’S Place Ville Marie screening room until Nov. 13, Thursdays through Sundays. Online reservations are suggested.
And from Nov. 17 through April of 2023, Montreal visual artist Nelson Henricks presents two new works.
Henrick’s Don’t You Like the Green of A? explores synesthesia by creating relationships between letters and colours. Meanwhile, Heads Will Roll examines the revolutionary potential of pop music and dance with a fourchannel video installation.
For a little extra guidance, an English-language tour with Henricks and curator Mark Lanctôt takes place Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023 at 5:30 p.m.
For more information and further programming information, please visit the museums’ website.