ART NOMADE chez Monastiraki

Art Nomade débarque au Monastiraki, le petit Monastère
Exposition Underwater-Undersea-Undersee

Vernissage 5 mars 2020, 6-9 pm
expo : du 5 au 29 mars


Cette exposition composée de quarante petits tableaux sur bois s'inscrit dans la mythologie du
mouvement, du déplacement et de l'espace chère au duo
L'espace aquatique comme lieu de l'imaginaire, l'eau élément du mouvement, de l'espace intuitif, du
mystère, de ce qui existe sans être directement percu par les sens coutumiés, de ce qui réside dans la
profondeur de l'onde, abordant le féminin sacré au passage

En explorant l'indécouvert, l'insondé, effleurant de l'esprit le self-care de la nature dans les étendues sous-
marines, ce qui échappe au matérialisme, sous la surface, loin des radars, portés par/issus de cette magie

blanche quotidienne les petits tableaux se révèlent
Portés par l'humour philosophe, les idéaux romantiques, et l'inclusivité, modernes et contemporains,
les tableaux sont de petites embarcations, pour le coeur et l'esprit.
Les expositions d'Art Nomade sont toujours des invitations à l'expérience poétique, au voyage de nuit, de
jour, par terre et mer, au creux de la paume/ au coeur de l'intime universel/ au rythme du vivant

Graham Hall - Secret Work / Travail Secret

GRAHAM HALL
SECRET WORK / TRAVAIL SECRET

In the course of a conversation we once had about the struggle for creative recognition, Billy Mavreas said to me “... why toil in obscurity, when you can work in secret?”. His clever reversal has stuck in my mind ever since.

This exhibition is a selection of work completed since 2016. Over the last two years or so I have squirrelled myself away in a small studio in Little Italy, and it has felt like working in secret. The building in which I have my studio is not one of those classic hives of creative endeavour, and I have often found myself the only person there. It has been isolating but in a good way. It has allowed me to retreat from the noise of the broader world, to focus on free experimentation and larger scales, and to fail from time to time.

The work on show at Monastiraki is somewhat transitional, moving between my previously exhibited paintings and those which I am currently developing. They are concerned largely with formal elements and principles like colour, shape and harmony, leavened with disruptive moves and veiled passages. There is a mystery to them and sometimes they seem to float. Their titles reflect an abiding interest in history and poetics, and through them, the canvases evoke elusive meaning in the hard reality of now.

GRAHAM HALL

SECRET WORK / TRAVAIL SECRET

Lors d’une conversation que Billy Mavreas et moi avons eu à propos de la difficulté de se faire connaitre dans le milieu des arts visuels, Billy m’a dit : « pourquoi œuvrer dans l’obscurité quand on peut travailler en secret? » Son revirement judicieux m'est depuis resté en tête.

Cette exposition présente une sélection d’œuvres réalisées depuis 2016. Au cours des deux dernières années, je me suis enfermé dans un petit atelier de la Petite Italie, où j’ai fréquemment eu l’impression de travailler en secret. L’immeuble dans lequel est situé mon atelier n’est pas un de ces centres bourdonnant d’activité créatrice, et je me suis souvent retrouvé à y travailler seul. Ça a eu un effet isolant, mais de façon positive. Cela m’a permis de me retirer du bruit du monde et de me concentrer sur l’expérimentation libre, les grands formats, et la possibilité d’échouer de temps à autre. 

Le travail présenté à Monastiraki est le résultat d’une période de transition entre des œuvres anciennement exposées et celles que je développe actuellement. Ces tableaux explorent principalement des idées plastiquescomme la couleur, les formes et l’harmonie, égayéesd’actions perturbatrices et de passages voilés. Ils sont mystérieux et ils semblent parfois flotter. Leurs titres reflètent un intérêt constant pour l’histoire et la poésie, et à travers eux les tableaux évoquent un sens insaisissable dans la dure réalité d'aujourd'hui.

Expo runs 4 - 27 april, 2018
Vernissage 6 april , 18 - 21hr

Diane Moreau & Heidi Daehler - first art show of 2018 !

Diane Moreau 
Heidi Daehler

Vernissage Jeudi 8 Mars 2018
Expo 1 - 31 mars 2018

Monastiraki
5478 Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec, H2T 1S1


Diane Moreau
Lignes de conduit

C’est la collecte d’objets trouvés lors de déambulations quotidiennes urbaines ou rurales, une invitation à ranimer le réel déchu. Aucune recherche de composition, aucune discrimination, c’est le hasard qui décide et les éléments, toujours déjà troués, s’enlignent au moment même de leur découverte pour devenir une chronique visuelle.
Je ramasse ce que le Petit Poucet aurait semé pour ne pas perdre sa route, je trouve la mienne enrichie de ce qui a été perdu ou jeté et ces objets découvrent une autre valeur.

Heidi Daehler

Montreal artist Heidi Daehler works in oil and acrylic paint to create representational works that situate human subjects and landscapes in emotional or existential contexts. Daehler has exhibited her works in solo and group shows in and about Montreal, and has completed dozens of commissioned paintings for commercial clients. Her works can be found in numerous private collections across Canada and the U.S., and in the U.K., France, and Mexico. Daehler holds a BFA in Studio Arts and a BA in Psychology (Concordia, 2006 and 1997).

MARY HAYES - A Pantheon of Minor Deities

A Pantheon of Minor Deities
Tableaux récents de Mary Hayes

03-27 novembre 2016
vernissage jeudi 3 novembre 18 - 21hr

Monastiraki
5478 Blvd. Saint-Laurent
Mtl, Qc., H2T 1S1 Canada


The work of Mary Hayes mines the expressive, psychological and sociological implications of the head and the human figure. Most recently, she reinterprets Old Master paintings and archetypes from popular culture with paintings that conflate, morph and mutate, exploring an emotional range between the macabre and the tender.  

A Pantheon of Minor Deities takes a look at archetypes that resurface with each generation in popular culture, through myth, fairy tales, film and video games. Misunderstood monster, imperious goddess, inquisitive alien - come back to us in various forms to guide us through the physical emotional and psychological trials of contemporary life.

***

Le travail de Mary Hayes sonde les aspects expressif, psychologique et sociologique de la tête et de la figure humaine. L’artiste se consacre depuis peu à l’interprétation d’œuvres de Grands Maîtres et d’archétypes de la culture populaire. Elle explore au moyen de fusions, morphismes et mutations toute une gamme d’émotions entre le tendre et le macabre. 

A Pantheon of Minor Deities pose un regard sur les archétypes générationnels de la culture populaire par l’entremise du mythe, des contes de fées, du cinéma et des jeux vidéo. Le monstre mal-aimé, la déesse impérieuse, l’extraterrestre curieux – reviennent nous visiter sous différentes formes pour nous guider à traversles épreuves physiques, émotionnelles, et psychologiques, de la vie contemporaine.

www.maryhayes.ca

Optimistic Panorama Optimiste GRAHAM HALL

Optimistic Panorama Optimiste  GRAHAM HALL
Vernissage Thursday Oct 15, 2015

Les nombreux pavillons des expositions universelles de 1967 à Montréal et de 1970 à Osaka étaient des visions d'un futur plein de possibilités. Pourtant, aucun n'a été conçu pour survivre plus longtemps que la durée de l'événement. Très peu d'entre eux demeurent intacts, et ceux qui le sont semblent évoquer une époque qui n'a jamais réellement existé, à laquelle on n'aurait aspiré que le temps d'un bref moment. Nous nous remémorons cette période où tout était possible avec admiration et nostalgie. Nous la voyons en rose, débordante d'innocence et de bienveillance, alors que sa réalité était plutôt celle de la dégénérescence environnementale, des désastres économiques, de la guerre froide, de la corruption politique et du désordre social planétaire. Ces mêmes réalités persistent encore aujourd'hui, et semblent même s'être amplifiées dans l'imaginaire collectif. Cette impression est peut­être seulement due à notre manque de recul. Aujourd'hui, la désillusion semble être devenue un automatisme, l'optimisme et l'idéalisme appartenant à une époque révolue de naïveté crédule.

L'inventivité aussi semble être dépassée. Il est très à la mode de faire un spectacle de combien on est au courant des innombrables atrocités qui se produisent dans le monde. Pourtant, les artistes du passé dont nous admirons toujours l'avant­gardisme avaient à composer avec des éléments semblables : le totalitarisme, la guerre industrielle, des inégalités sociales inimaginables, le joug de la religion et l'effondrement total de l'ordre social. À travers le brouillard de l’adversité, ces visionnaires arrivaient à entrevoir un nouveau point de départ, et, au lieu de se lamenter de l'obscurité ambiante, ils ont cherché à faire renaitre la lumière. Ils savaient que c'est dans les décombres qu'on trouve de la place pour construire.

Nous réagissons passivement aux malheurs qui nous entourent. S'imaginer quelque chose implique une action, la nécessité d'envisager des possibles, même s'ils nous semblent chimériques. Parce que sans des perspectives positives, nous nous noyons dans un océan d'autocritique et de morosité.

Dans ce corpus, je fais écho aux modernistes, sans vouloir les copier gratuitement. Les géométries de Rodchenko, Schwitters, Klee, DeLaunay et des futuristes russes y sont. Il y a des relents du graphisme ésotérique, comme si ces images étaient plus que la somme de leurs parties. Elles ont quelque chose de théosophique.

Un pont est ainsi créé à travers le 20e siècle, constitué de visions d'avant­guerre et d'hallucinations de l'époque psychédélique, de rêveries romantiques et d'aspirations d'une conscience planétaire en paix. En somme, un pont soutenu par l'espoir et le rejet du cynisme.

Ces oeuvres représentent un plaidoyer pour une conspiration du bonheur, pour l'amour et une acceptation des imperfections, pour une utilisation de la débrouillardise qui nous élève au­dessus de nos différences. Au­dessus de la politique et de la religion, jusque dans la sphère de la vitalité de l'esprit. C'est une vision intrinsèquement utopique, mais bâtie sur une structure de réalisme. C'est une ode à l'optimisme et à l’espoir.

OPTIMISTIC PANORAMA

The pavilions in Montreal and Osaka of Expos ‘67 and ‘70 were visions of a future of possibility, yet none were built to last beyond the term of the event. Only a very few survive, and those that do not live on only in photographs which seem to evoke a time and place that almost never was, that was aspired to for the blink of an eye. We look back on these things with admiration and positive nostalgia for a time when things seemed possible. We cast the era as golden and innocent, when we know full well the ravages of environmental degradation, economic disaster, cold war frost, political corruption and violent social upheaval that spread their pall across the globe at the time. The same conditions exist today, seemingly amplified, but perhaps only so seeming, because we have not the advantage of hindsight on our current position. Yet now so much optimism and possibility­embracing are often considered naive, and stark bitterness is the go­to mode.
It seems to be terribly uncool to seek new creative invention, and very cool to show how cognizant one is of the shit­storm of horrible things happening to the world. Yet, the artists of the past whom we admire for forging new ground for the future had to contend with totalitarianism, industrialized war, social inequality unthinkable of today, the shackles of religion, even the total breakdown of social order. Through the haze of these difficulties, the visionaries of the past saw a Year Zero, and instead of bemoaning the hovering darkness, they sought to create anew the light of day. All may lie in ruin, but this provides space to build.
We are passively reactive to the ills around us. Imagining implies that we be actively active, that we move towards possibilities, no matter how hopelessly unrealizable they may appear. Because without the outlook of fantastic possibility we drown in gloom and critique­without­end.
In this body of work, a harkening back to early Modernism is evident, but not slavishly copied; the geometries of Rodchenko, Schwitters, Klee, DeLaunay, Russian Futurism. There is a hint of esoteric design, as though the pictures ought to be about more than just the sum of their parts. Theosophy could be at home here.
Thus there is a bridging of the 20th Century, from the visions of pre­war, to the hallucinations of the revolutionary psychedelic era, tapping Romantic fantasies and fevered dreams of a world mind at peace, of the belief in possibility rather than the retreat into cynicism.

It is a call for a conspiracy of happiness, a belief in love, an acceptance of imperfection and the harnessing of ingenuity to lift humankind beyond petty discriminations. It is beyond politics, beyond religion. It is about the life and health of the mind. It is Utopian in nature, but not in conception. It is a very long poem dedicated to describing positivity and optimism. 

WAXHEAD

INTERVIEW Graham Hall

Is an artist based in Montreal.

'2013' will be showing at Monastiraki from April 3-27. 

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On 3 April, 2014, the year 2013 is revisited by a crowd of people relishing one of the first days of spring in Montreal. The window is full of fresh flowers in dialogue with a 5-foot-tall, 3-dimensional pyramid characterized by bold colors contained in a geometric style. The works on the wall are highly mathematical and controlled, but the order lends a sense of calm instead of restriction. Inviting its viewer to think about the past in its relationship to history, the present, and the future, Graham Hall’s work succeeds as both retrospect and potentiality. Once the crowd thinned out nearing the end of the night, I had the chance to talk with Graham about his work, steamies vs toasties, and Muddy Waters.

Just to open it up, tell us a bit about the body of work – any inspiration, challenges, etc?

Initially this work was inspired by a couple of postcards that I dug out of my files, which I had initially bought many years ago in Venice, which depicted some of the floor pavements in the Basilica St. Marco, attributed to Paolo Uccello – the Great Renaissance Master. I wanted to see if I could reproduce them in some kind of way. I liked the 3-D effects in them and I was attracted to trying to be very, very precise in the making of the work. It was kind of a personal challenge, I guess, to see if I could do it and see where I could take it after I theoretically would be able to do it. Because it’s very, very math-based, lots of geometry, and I’ve always been terrified of mathematics (laughter).

Do you think that there’s a specific time and place in the artist’s life when a personal challenge is necessary?

For me, it’s something that comes up constantly, but without realizing that I’m setting it up. I’ve produced several bodies of work over the years, that were very interesting to me initially, just to do, to make something that would hopefully be beautiful in the end, but that then required (as the series went on) a really serious amount of heavy work. A really, really tight, labor-intensive process. And I guess the reason that I follow through with it is because I either know that the end result will be great, because of the first couple of attempts, or I’m looking forward to what the result will be, which is an unknown. If I do this, and this and this and this, eventually I will come to an end and then I’ll have this thing, if all goes well (laughter).

Even if the end isn’t necessarily ideal, the piece still exists.

To me it matters that you get to that point. The work will often start in a very expressive way, and usually very, very quickly it turns into that labor-intensive process that has in its sights, in the end, the creation of a piece that I want to look at.

Why are there flowers in the window tonight?

Another inspiration for this body of work was the reading of Umberto Eco’s On Beauty, so I became interested in beauty and ideas of beauty. And flowers, I think it’s pretty generally agreed, are beautiful things, so that’s one aspect of flowers in the window. I had conceived of the idea of having an abundance of flowers in the window prior to the passing of my former professor, Maestro Peter Porcal, and since his passing, it sort of turned into this idea of not just celebrating spring and having joy in the beauty of flowers, but also, kind of a tribute to this great man who influenced me in so many ways.

What is your favorite Montreal food joint when you’re drunk?

Usually at home (laughter). But on the rare occasion that I am out on the town, getting shit-faced, very rare occasion, Chez Claudette is a hop, skip and a jump away from where I live, so I guess if I were to choose something, it would be something that is close to home, so that I can then stumble up the stairs with a belly full of poutine.

Toastie or Steamie?

Steamie.

Best new book you’ve read?

I’ve not quite finished it, but, I have been reading, very slowly, Sheila Heti’s How Should a Person Be?. Which is amazing. Sheila, I knew, not very well – friends of friends – back when I lived in Toronto. In fact, back then, she was the first person whom I didn’t know very well, who told me that they really enjoyed my artwork. So I felt it important to read one of her books. The funny thing is, I know a few people in the book (laughter). Not well, but I definitely know some of them, and I certainly know many of the places. It feels very familiar, and especially the situations that she’s writing about, for me, over the past couple of months, I very much identify with.

What music are you listening to?

Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of electric blues. I recently bought Muddy Waters’ 1968 electric album called Electric Mud, which is really awesome. It’s pretty clear that they’re just jamming away. There’s a really out-of-tune clarinet solo in one of the songs, which is a little bit off-putting, but most of it is this really great bluesy – well, not just bluesy – but full on Muddy Waters blues, fuzzed-out porno funk; it’s pretty awesome. I’m liking that. I’m liking Them with Van Morrison, and early Rolling Stones, and Yardbirds. And I always go back to Stooges, MC5.

What’s going on with the Malaysia flight? What does it mean for contemporary thought?

Well, it means that we’re reminded once again that we’re at the mercy of the universe. We like to think because we’ve got iPhones and all that shit, that we’re in control but obviously we’re not. I worry that it feeds into Bermuda Triangle garbage thinking, but a year or two from now they’ll find something just like the Air France flight that crashed off Brazil a couple years ago. It’s a tragedy, and it’s too bad that we immediately think, (gasp), “Oh, is it terrorism?” But tragedies happen, and random shit fuckin’ happens, you know? And that’s life. I know that very well (laughter).

Any closing remarks; something that has been running through your head recently?

Something that went through my mind last week – I was thinking about the fact that all this work in the show is from the previous year: what does that mean? And I thought, well, I think about history a lot. I thought, looking towards the past, is ultimately, a wish for hope in the future. And a search, or yearning for Romance in the present. 

Interview conducted by Tara Slaughter

Graham Hall - 2013

Graham Hall  2013

rivers, mountains, martyrs
salt mine, sanctuary, visions
new sacrifice, vestal experiences, satanic adversary
everything, big things, small things
fantasy, power and zero

(all of the work in this exhibition was either completed or begun in 2013)


••• ••• •••


Graham Hall  2013

rivières, montagnes, martyres
mine de sel, sanctuaire, visions
nouveau sacrifice, expériences vestales, adversaire satanique
toute chose, grandes choses, petites choses
fantaisie, pouvoir et zéro.

(Toutes les œuvres d’art de cette exposition ont été soit complétées, soit commencées en 2013)