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“We are so small between the stars, so large against the skyi,” wrote Leonard Cohen, whose significant prose gave birth to this year's ninth edition of the Manif d'art de Québec, orchestrated by the director of the Ikon Gallery of Birmingham, Jonathan Watkins.
Planned is a celebration of phenomena, those that reveal themselves to our senses and consciousness, that transform us, and that become our aim to know and understand completely. This theme, which focuses on human nature in all its scope and variations, promises to produce an utterly inspiring biennial.
Therefore, it is a great honour for Simons to once again be a part of this cultural event that aims to bring the experimentation and study of Quebec, Canadian, and international art to the forefront. We are fortunate to be displaying the remarkable works of three Quebec artists in the windows of our Quebec City stores, artists who were meticulously selected for their understanding of our intuitive and singular world by one of the laureates of the new Young Curators component, Catherine Blanchet.
How can we grasp the movements and changes that are taking place without the eyes of science to guide us? This is the exciting question raised by artist Jeffrey Poirier in his piece, X. The visual installation attempts to express a reflection on environmentalism by using unusual renewable materials in a repeating cross pattern. The eye, scanning this work that’s electrified by colorful geometric shapes, finds itself at a point of reorientation. Through this decorative language, Poirier questions the individual about his habits of perception that are sometimes too simplistic, especially when it comes to environmental disorder.
Deeply inspired by Giorgio Morandi’s emotionally cold still-life paintings and Clarice Lispector’s existential texts, Elisabeth Belliveau expresses the full potential of the movement of everyday objects as well as time’s hold over them and their condition in every scene of her animation. This digitized vanitas explores the natural cycle of life in which fruits, paper, and icicles break down to be reborn in a new and better form. It is a sublime ode to memento mori based on the evolution and transformation of things.
The celestial and the terrestrial. Clarity and ambiguity. The strength and fragility of the cold. So many dualities are invoked by Pavitra Wickramasinghe’s triptych, behind which is hidden a particular interest in an elusive and distant astral phenomenon. Thanks to the light’s trajectory on the work, we can grasp the delicate nature of the glass and paper used. In this harmonious dissonance between subject and materials, the artist offers us a poetic way of understanding meteors.
For nine weeks, you will have the chance to discover the works of over a hundred artists throughout Quebec City and the surrounding region in addition to our window displays. Over 65 amazing events and exhibitions await both young and old, whether you’re an art expert or just curious!
i Story of the Street by Leonard Cohen, Copyright 1993 ©, Leonard Cohen, used by permission of The Wylie Agency (UK) Limited
