ART Projet Pangée: a small Canadian curation team with big ambitions.
Montreal’s PROJET PANGÉE has adopted a more collaborative and instinctual approach to curation, and the art world is taking note.
CHERYL SIM, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CURATOR at the Phi Centre in Montreal, once told me that artists make the best curators, and Projet Pangée is a case in point. What started in 2016 as artist Julie Côté’s foray into curation in the Galerie Pangée space at Montreal’s Belgo Building—a hub for many of the city’s artist-run centres and galleries—has turned into an internationally recognized commercial success story. “I wanted to promote young artists with a vision,” says Côté. “I wanted colour and material-based [work] and humour—I wanted playfulness within the context of art galleries.”
Since then, Projet Pangée has grown and is now run by three artists: Côté is at the helm as founder and head curator, and Sophie Latouche and Michelle Bui are gallery associates and curators. “Our relationship is so important, and that’s what also creates success,” says Côté. “I want to make this [experience] enjoyable, and that’s why I work with Michelle and Sophie. I love them—they’re irreplaceable.” This spirit of camaraderie and collaboration is why Projet Pangée is so appealing to artists, collectors and art lovers alike.
The first time I met Côté was at one of Projet Pangée’s first shows. My partner was having an exhibit next door, and I was trying to occupy our son, who was just learning to walk. I was following him down the building’s long hallways and around its many galleries as he teetered too closely to artwork, screeching with delight. He wandered into Projet Pangée and stopped in his tracks, mesmerized by the bright colours, the large glossy sculptures, the energy of the art and, most importantly, a little girl in a stroller who was making just as much noise as him. It was Côté’s daughter, who had come to work with her that day. I immediately fell in love with Côté’s relaxed air, her sincere enthusiasm and the openness with which she explained the art she clearly adored. I was an instant fan—and I wasn’t the only one.
Projet Pangée was successful from the get-go. “That first year, there were fewer project spaces, so we were very lucky that things moved really quickly—we were invited to NADA New York and went to Material in Mexico City,” says Côté. “People started to take notice.” For a new space in the art scene, this was huge, and being a project rather than a gallery had its advantages: Galleries represent a roster of artists, whereas project spaces feature artists without necessarily representing them. It allows for more freedom and spontaneity, to not only showcase a wider variety of talent but also take more risks and experiment with curation, pairing different but complementary artists together and shining a spotlight on lesser-known ones. So far, Projet Pangée has put on shows with over 50 artists from all over the world.
“It has been an organic process,” explains Côté. “When we are captivated by an artist’s practice, it’s nice to start off the relationship with an exhibition at the gallery and evolve from there. Some first collaborations have been for international art fairs, and that’s really rare. Most galleries bringing artists to [these fairs] will have them signed because it’s an investment, but for us, it’s really about community, our passion and deepening the relationship with the amazing artists whom we have art crushes on and want to support.”
While Côté and her team began to reach out to artists, host shows and participate in fairs—including Papier in Montreal and Art Toronto—they found themselves being drawn to emerging women in particular. “It just so happens that that was the art that touched us the most,” says Côté. “At that time, fewer women artists were being signed and we wanted to change that culture. I feel so grateful for each collaboration, and I’m happy to see that things are [starting to change] for women artists.”
As Projet Pangée grew, it moved from the Belgo to a historic consulate building in the Golden Square Mile, right by Mount Royal Park. It also started to morph from a project space into a hybrid gallery as the team decided to represent three artists of their own: ceramicist Trevor Baird and painters Delphine Hennelly and Darby Milbrath.
Victoria native Milbrath—who now lives in Toronto—first had a Pangée show in 2016 with her sister, Claire, who is also a painter (and the editor-in-chief of Editorial Magazine). “I was struck by their belief in me,” says Milbrath. “I had only been painting very seriously for a year before they approached me. To have that sort of support early on was incredible, especially from a team of young women who have such a strong vision.” Milbrath, whose dreamy oil paintings have a sense of otherworldly magic and movement, has been on a steady and successful climb. She feels the entire approach at Pangée is different from that of other curators and galleries. “I feel encouraged to experiment in the studio as they are open to new ideas and directions—it’s nice to feel that level of commitment, trust and openness,” she says.
Hennelly, a Montreal-based artist who is also making serious waves in the art world, is known for her large-scale compositions with figures, bright colours and patterns that seem almost woven into the canvas. She echoes Milbrath’s sentiments about working with the team at Pangée. “I was struck early on in our interactions by how intellectually involved they are in their work,” she says. “They have such integrity when it comes to the concepts and themes that run through their search for meaning and ideas that I have total confidence in and respect for their vision.”
Projet Pangée has already scheduled shows until the end of the year, with an exciting spring and summer program that includes a virtual exhibition featuring new works by L.A. painter Jessica Williams and solo presentations by Hennelly, Oreka James and Elizabeth Perrault. The team has also invited emerging textile-based and installation artists from Mexico City to come and show their work in September.
Considering the pandemic and the financial uncertainty that has come with it, one might think that there would be less demand for art at the moment, but this is not the case with Projet Pangée. Côté says that they feel like all the effort and work they’ve put into this is being reflected in their growing following, both nationally and internationally. “We’ve been really lucky,” she says. “We’ve worked with artists who are now having New York representation and upcoming shows in Paris, so it tightens the sense of community and keeps Projet Pangée vibrant.”
But this kind of success isn’t just down to luck. These women seem to have their fingers on the pulse of what’s about to break, and they manage to curate shows with a refined sensibility and global appeal that is resonating much further than they ever expected or imagined. “It’s also about following what’s going on in major cities and other countries and following project spaces, social media and blogs,” says Côté. “And, most importantly, following our hearts.”