Quebec City Biennial event draws artists and art lovers
The Quebec Winter Carnival is finished for this year, but there’s still many reasons to visit Quebec City this winter, including the recent opening of the Manif d’art/8 Quebec City Biennial.
For the first time, since its inception in 2000, this huge exhibition of contemporary art in Quebec City is being held in the midst of winter, and will continue until May 14. The first event was a much smaller venture with 30 artists, but this biennial features the work of more than 100 Canadian and international artists — and two-thirds of the art is newly created.
“One of the good points about doing a biennial in winter is it provides extra inspiration for artists, especially those who have never experienced winter,” said Line Ouellet, the director of the Musee national des beaux-arts du Quebec. “We are the world’s sole winter contemporary art biennial.”
Indeed, one of the international artists taking part is Parisian artist Christian Boltanski, who has never experienced a snowy winter before but has created a quintessential Canadian winter scene with his video of 300 Japanese chimes planted like a forest in an all white landscape.
Founder and biennial artistic director Claude Belanger first got the idea that Quebec City needed its own biennial after being invited to other biennials around the world to showcase his own photographic artwork.
While approximately half of the artists participating in the biennial are from outside Canada the biennial is a great place to see what many of our own country’s artists are creating.
Like Halifax artist Sarah Maloney and Montreal artist Karine Payette, who are both exhibiting work for the biennial in a local gallery called Materia. Both women said it was not only an honour to be selected but a great opportunity to network with other artists.
Maloney has two pieces in the show — one called Collapse that consists of tulips cast in bronze dancing on a paisley fabric as well as sprouting from a vintage fainting chaise. While one of Payette’s two works on show, called Pavlov, is of a dog/wolf with a forced smile. Both artists’ works fit well into the biennial’s theme of The Art of Joy.
Although biennial sites are numerous, the best place to begin your own biennial experience is at the main site, which is located in the museum’s new glass-encased Pierre Lassonde Pavilion, which opened last June.
The Art of Joy theme begins immediately at the exhibit entrance, where Montreal artist Robbin Deyo spent 21 days painting a bold, red mural, called Throb. The artwork, inspired by a child’s Spirograph toy, is meant to leave viewers with a sense of living in the present moment.
From this main site, visitors can pick up the five outdoor itineraries to discover some of the other works on display throughout Quebec City.
Besides the museum the biennial is also taking place in 25 artist centres and galleries and outdoor settings as well. Art projections are on many building facades and in window shops and public sculptures are featured city-wide as well. A favourite is a shrouded unicorn on the popular shopping thoroughfare of Avenue Cartier, a block away from the museum.
Although not officially part of the biennial be sure to take a walk on Avenue Cartier, which features 34-large scale street lamps whose lampshades features art work from the museum. They are hard to miss and an obvious indication that Quebec City continues to be a strong centre for contemporary arts that are multidisciplinary, conceptual and socially engaging.