MMFA 2019: Avant-garde Montrealers

Jewellery, Glass and Ceramics as Envisioned by Gallerists Jocelyne Gobeil, Elena Lee and Barbara Silverberg

April 30, 2019 - March 2020

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) dicates its Design Lab to three Quebec former gallery owners whose expertise ensured that glass, ceramics and jewellery became recognized fully as artistic disciplines. Avant-garde Montrealers: Jewellery, Glass and Ceramics as Envisioned by Jocelyne Gobeil, Elena Lee and Barbara Silverberg pays tribute to these women and their resolutely contemporary and practices.

Bringing together 60 of the works – which the Museum now boasts in its collection – Avant-garde Montrealers attests to the vast creative potential of jewellery, glass and ceramics.

The gifts of works from these galleries reveal the exemplary role played by Gobeil, Lee and Silverberg as true Canadian pioneers. The Louise and Laurette D’Amours bequest from the Liliane and David M. Stewart Collection and the Anna and Joe Mendel Collection respectively showcase Canadian glass art from 1970 to 2015, and Canadian and international glass art from 1962 to 2008. The gift of Barbara and Philip Silverberg highlights the oeuvre of American and Canadian ceramicists, especially of the 1980s and 1990s. The pieces from the personal collection of the late Jocelyne Gobeil were fashioned by artists who made their mark on the history of contemporary jewellery during the same period. The confluence and synergy of the works in this exhibition add to the depth and diversity of the Museum’s decorative arts and design collection, a unique holding in North America.

  

Jocelyne Gobeil, Elena Lee and Barbara Silverberg opened their galleries in a period when these changing fields were shifting focus from utilitarian and decorative objects to sculptural and conceptual works of art. These gallery owners fostered the dissemination and promotion of such creations by solo and group exhibition programming, by presenting them at artistic shows, promoting them in publications, as well as pursuit of other avenues. The women convinced the artistic milieu and a wider public of such works relevance and endurance.

Located near the Museum, their galleries took advantage of the high traffic on Sherbrooke Street and the close by presence of other art galleries. 

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Galerie Elena Lee (1976-2017) specialized in Canadian contemporary glass art. Representing new and established artists alike, the gallery showcased traditional blown-glass works as well as more complex and sculptural art that exploits the many facets of glass and its potential for combining with other materials – works that put Canadian glass art on the international stage.

Galerie Jocelyne Gobeil (1987-1999) sought to give jewellery its due credit as wearable works of art. Jocelyne Gobeil primarily represented Quebec artists but also featured American and European creations to raise the profile of international jewellery. Renowned creators expressed their reflections on jewellery with novel and experimental pieces made in a wide array of materials that effected undeniably powerful statements.

Galerie Barbara Silverberg Contemporary Ceramics (1985-1998) started out showcasing the conceptual approaches of Quebec artists and then expanded into works from the United States as well as other parts of Canada, including representatives of the Regina Clay movement. The versatility of this art form was exploited to the fullest by emerging artists and ceramicists celebrated across Canada and around the world. Materiality, plasticity, emotional expression, and creative inspirations together contributed to the great diversity of the artworks.

Exhibition Location

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Design Lab, Liliane and David M. Stewart Pavilion – Level 2

Until end of June 2019, this exhibition can be accessed via the 3410 Du Musée Avenue entrance only. Tickets must be purchased at the Lobby of the Jean-Noël Desmara

For more information about the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts exhibitions and activities, visit the museum's website.