MMFA2024: TWO BY TWO, TOGETHER

TWO BY TWO, TOGETHER

Bringing together over 80 recent additions to the MMFA's collection

September 11, 2024 – October 5, 2025

With this exhibition, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is opening a window into its collecting practices. Two by Two, Together, which brings together a rich selection of works from all over the world that have been acquired over the past five years. Most of them are being shown to the public for the first time and are grouped together in such a way as to create a dialogue between them, while showcasing the Museum's many collecting areas of interest.

Two by Two, Together unveils some 80 diverse works that shine a spotlight on works made in a wide range of artistic disciplines by artists from Quebec, Canada, and around the world. Visitors can admire important paintings by Peter Doig, Pierre Dorion, Wanda Koop, Stéphane La Rue, Robert Clow Todd, Claude Tousignant, Robin F. Williams and Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun; sculptures by Louise Bourgeois, Stanley Février, Giuseppe Penone and Kishio Suga; graphic works by Tony Lewis, Nicolas Party and Rembrandt; photographs by Herbert List and Robert Mapplethorpe; and an early Chinese cosmic board (Liuren Shipan) from the Sui Dynasty.

The MMFA's permanent collection is one of the oldest in Canada and consists of close to 47,000 art works and objects from five continents, dating from the Neolithic era to the present day. This collection grows each year through donations, purchases and bequests.

Stéphane Aquin, Director of the MMFA, stated:

"In continuously developing the collection, the MMFA is committed to presenting works by artists who have long been marginalized and underrepresented. We aim to offer our audiences an increasingly inclusive experience, through the diversity and richness of acquisitions from every corner of the globe and spanning thousands of years of history."

Iris Amizlev, Curator of Special Projects at the MMFA and curator of the exhibition added:

"Most of the works in Two by Two, Together are grouped together, such as to create a dialogue between them based on their subject, medium, form, function or period. Through these juxtapositions, we hope to provoke new and enlightening interpretations of the Museum's collection." 

Aside from the creations shown in the exhibition, other recently acquired artworks can be found in the Museum's permanent collection galleries, identified by special labels. In addition, a new rotation of works in the galleries adjacent to Two by Two, Together highlight new contemporary acquisitions by such artists as Esmaa Mohamoud, Christina Quarles and Kareem-Anthony Ferreira.

The acquisition process

Every potential acquisition is subject to the same rigorous process in order to evaluate whether it is a pertinent addition to the MMFA's collection.

The curatorial team conducts extensive research to determine if the object will enhance the MMFA's collections, either by adding depth to or diversifying it, or by introducing new perspectives.

Works are also evaluated by the Conservation department to assess their condition. Factors such as instability, damage or inadequate restoration attempts might influence acquisition decisions.

If the results of these investigations support an artwork's inclusion in the Museum's collection, curators present their acquisition recommendation to internal and external acquisition committees. Each of the four acquisition committees includes at least one member of the MMFA's Board of Trustees as well as external advisors. If committee members agree with the recommendation, and this recommendation is approved by the Board of Trustees, the acquisition can proceed. The work is then catalogued, photographed and restored, as necessary.

Credits and curatorial team

An exhibition organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
It is curated by Iris Amizlev, Curator of Special Projects, MMFA

Visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts website to check on the opening hours and to purchase your tickets online.

McCord 2024: Michaëlle Sergile

Michaëlle Sergile:

To All the Unnamed Women

Exploring the relationship between history and archival violence

September 13, 2024 - January 12, 2025

This exhibition is presented by the Montreal's McCord Stewart Museum. It combines archival records and fiction, and traces the origins of the first collective created by Black women in Quebec, the Coloured Women’s Club of Montreal (CWCM). Michaëlle Sergile is drawing on the concept of critical fabulation theorized by an American author Saidiya Hartman, defined as a methodology that combines historical and archival research with a critical theory and fictional narrative (see here).

For her first solo exhibition at the museum, the artist has created 7 original tapestries on Jacquard looms. Three of them reconstruct images selected from the Museum’s Photography collection, and four illustrate portraits of CWCM members. Archival photographs and objects from the Museum collections complete the installation. The artist stated:

 “When I started working with textiles, I realized there was a disconnect between the visual arts and craft, as if the two notions couldn’t coexist. I thought it fitted in very well with the way I conceptualized archives, because I was very interested in anything that’s put aside. I felt that the medium of weaving itself was being sidelined. I liked that the word métissage (“racial mix”) contains tissage (“weaving”), just like text and textile.”

For Michaëlle Sergile, creation is a way of confronting the limitations of archives, of imagining and fully recognizing the lives of individuals of whom we have only a few traces. Weaving was an obvious choice as a medium for expressing the realities of the Black women featured in the exhibition, as many parallels can be drawn between the themes addressed and weaving. Often associated with handicrafts, this medium is still rarely used by artists. As proof, only 3 computer-assisted Jacquard looms – used by Michaëlle to create her works – are available in Montreal.

Michaëlle Sergile stated about her installation:

 “To All the Unnamed Women doesn’t simply commemorate the past, but offers a profound reflection on the creation of memories and the importance of identification. Through archives, I can say what I can’t always say. It’s a great way to create a link with people who once existed but are no longer with us today, to give a sense of continuity to their discourse. I think there’s something beautiful and powerful about thinking of all the people who have had these thoughts before you, and being able to associate them with the period you’re living in.” 

Michaëlle Sergile

Michaëlle Sergile is an independent artist and curator working mainly with archives from the post-colonial period, from 1950 to the present day. Her artistic practice aims to understand and rewrite the history of Black communities, and more specifically that of women, through the medium of weaving. Traditionally associated with craftsmanship and femininity, weaving allows her to explorepower relations linked to gender and ethnicity

She has recently exhibited her work at the Musée national des beaux-arts duQuébec, the Musée d’art deJoliette, the Fonderie Darling and the OFF, Biennale deDakar, Senegal. She also waslong listed for the prestigious Sobey Arts Award in 2022. In 2023, she won the Visual Artist of the Year Award at Gala Dynastie and began a residency at the Fonderie Darling.

Curatorial and production team:

An exhibition created by the McCord Stewart Museum.

Artist: Michaëlle Sergile

Project management: Caroline Truchon

Project Manager, Exhibitions Curating: Mathieu Lapointe

Curator, Archives Graphic design: David Martin

Click on images to enlarge them.

All photos @ Nadia Slejskova

For more information about current exhibitions and special evens associated with this exhibition, visit the McCord Stewart Museum website.