Art Frame: Art Souterrain 2019

Friday, February 22, 2019

Art Souterrain 2019

Steve Giasson, Rubis

ART SOUTERRAIN 2019
11th Edition - True or False

March 2 - 24, 2018

Art Souterrain or UnderGround Art is an annual event in right at the downtown of Montreal It rans for 3 winter weeks and is presented inside the over 6 km long Montreal’s underground pedestrian network and 8 satellite locations. Works of art were chosen by curators Maude Arsenault, Martin Le Chevallier and Joyce Yahouda will be accessible at all times, free of charge. The Festival will also present a number of interesting mediation and discovery activities.

Contemporary works by 60 well-known local and international artists evoking aspects of the “True or False” theme will enliven the heart of Montreal.

Justin Langlois

Among the ARTISTS:

The Frenchman Alain della Negra and the Japanese artist Kaori Kinoshita will sow the confusion between the real and the virtual by presenting their short film NEIGHBORHOOD, story of the life of their avatar with the followers of the game of Sims.

THE BEST AVAILABLE EVIDENCE by visual artist Rebecca Marino is inspired by a document the artist discovered on the evidence of the existence and legitimacy of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The work challenges personal belief boundaries by playing with the idea of evidence.

At the Palais des Congrès, Philippe Ramette will use photography to bring humour and strangeness into the world while reflecting on the notion of "irrational".

Holly Andres offers a series of photographic snapshots inspired by childhood memories, carefully staged as a cinematic melodramas. Her work echoes works of Siàn Davey who celebrated family life in its unpredictable complexity with an almost documentary approach.

The self-taught Quebec artist Emmanuel Laflamme, former cartoonist, in his work FAKE IT UNTIL YOU MAKE IT multiplies the references to the first step of the man on the Moon while questioning the authenticity of the event.

The conceptual artist Steve Giasson questions our beliefs with his work WITHOUT TITLE (CINQ RUBIS ). He claims he has hidden five rubies in the buildings along the underground route, raising a question about the very existence of his work.

Marc Lee takes a critical look at the limits of our information society with his video installation POLITICAL CAMPAIGN - BATTLE OF OPINION ON SOCIAL MEDIA. From his premise that the social media reflects our own opinion, he mixes real images, videos and tweets in real time to create a continuous newsletter

Artist Philippe Battikha presents a well-known Montreal issue: construction sites. His sculptural and sound installation PREVENTATIVE INTERVIEW plays with the spectator who will doubt his perceptions.

A monumental installation THE TERRIL by Edward Hillel, uses humour to denounce the economic, political and social powers of multinational corporations.

The Montreal artist Dominique Pétrin examines in his work THE TRUE OF FALSE how by using hypnosis in his performances he can distort the visual cognitive processes and alter the perception and consciousness.

Brendan George Ko, Head In The Sand

Brendan George Ko, Lava Tube

New and free activities:

"Running pace" will allow the public to combine physical training and discovery of the Montreal's underground course with a sports coach and mediators.

Guided tours: will offer three thematic tours to allow festival-goers to understand underground works from different angles.

During the Nuit Blanche, each artist present at the lounch will be accompanied by mediators whose mission will be to inform the public about the artist's work and his career

Mediation sessions will be organized on weekends, and middays on weekdays to discuss the works in the underground route.

Films: Cinéma paranoïaque at Cinéma du Parc.

Also, the satellite locations will have each special planned activities: meetings with the artists, creative workshops or round table.