McCord Museum 2013: Benoit Aquin

Haiti: Chaos and Daily Life

February 28 - May 12, 2013

The Montreal museum McCord presents a documentary photo reportage Haiti: Chaos and Daily Life by a Montreal photographer Benoit Aquin. 40 oversized colour photos offer Aquin's vision of Haiti, the day-to day lives of Haitians as they cope with the chaos caused by the January 2010 earthquake and as they try to recover their lives in the aftermath of that devastating event.

Aquin is not only concerned about the subject matter, but foremost with the formal composition of his images: the colours, lines, light and and how various elements in the photograph interact and support each other for the greatest visual effect.

The exhibition is divided into three general areas. The first one documents the immediate situation just after the earthquake took place. It has a predominant colour of light grey-blue.

In his photo reportage Aquin stresses people's resilience to cope with the hardship they have to endure, as well as the emotional stress of having lost friends and family members, not having a proper access to food, water or even shelter. People even find time to play regardless of shear devastation and dis pare that surrounds them.

The very first photograph at the entry to the exhibition, as well as the last area of Aquin's photo reportage is dedicated to documenting carnivals and voodoo ceremonies.

Regardless of the fact that Benoit Aquin does a photo documentation and reportage works, his photographs are avidly collected by art museums. This attests to a high artistic quality of his work.

To find out more about the exhibition, visit McCord Museum's website.

http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en

Peru: Kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon - MMFA 2013

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

February 24- June 16, 2013

Peru: Kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon – Identities and Conquest in the Ancient, Colonial and Modern Eras.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts opens its doors to visitors to experience an exceptional collection of Peru's archaeological as well as anthropological, historical and artistic riches. On display are 370 works of art (paintings, sculptures, gold and silver ornaments, pottery, photographs, works on paper, textiles and videos) which came from almost fifty public and private collections, spanning 3,000 years of Peru's history.

The visitor will have a unique opportunity to discover faces of ancient people, the ancestors of the Peruvian land. Here are a few photos of quite unique ancient personalities.

Notice anguish and deep sadness written on the faces of the two people above. Were the prototypes or the sitters for the sculpted objects experiencing these emotions and the artists sensed them and brought them forth? Or did the artists project their own feelings into what they created?  We would never know, and it does not really matter. What matters to us - we have a chance to see faces of very ancient people who are a part of our common human heritage.

Above are two other faces. Surprisingly, the one to the right appears  to have African features. The one to the left is more stylized and even decorative but nevertheless very expressive. Both project some personal predicament, the burden of which has to be endured.

Two personages below are also portrayed in a stylized manner. They both hold a living creature which, most likely, represents a mythological entity or symbol. The one on the left is holding a mollusc called Spondylus, the one on the right is supporting a double-headed snake. Both have the corners of their mouth turned down, projecting not a happy expression. They also look somewhat bewildered and even dejected.

All people portrayed have their heads covered by a hat or a head piece. Were those also worn as if to hide the personal thoughts? Regardless of what we might know of those ancient times, these people's facial expressions speak for themselves and indicate that life for ordinary human beings in those ancient societies might have been quite hard. Their culture and religion were centred around human sacrifice. They all must have accepted this, yet did they indeed accept everything about it deep inside themselves, in the very core of their human nature? Their facial expressions seem to indicate that not all was well in their world, as they seem to tell us with their personal expressions throughout centuries.

Above, top left, is a photo of a funerary mask. Notice blue beads  hanging from the eyes, flowing down like tears. A death, even sacrificial, must have brought a lot of tears into at least some people's eyes, something they most likely had to hide.

Below that mask we see the examples of the gold royal finery. The royalty did not have to worry about being killed in a religious human sacrifice, they were free to enjoy a lavish life.

The exhibition also presents a number of more recent works, like, for instance, a set of exquisitely executed miniature silver furniture  made from silver wire (see to the left). It was made in the 18th century by an unknown artist. Were these pieces toys for girls from well to do families?

If you visit the exhibition, you will also see a number of remarkable paintings. Here are a few examples.

Here is an overview of several exhibition areas.

Click on images to enlarge them.

To find out more about this exhibition or its opening hours, visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts website.

You can purchase the book Peru: Kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon at the Museum's Boutique and Store.

Peruvian Gold Relic Unveiled - MMFA 2013

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

February 2 - June 16,   2013

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has unveiled yesterday,  January 24, 2013, the most striking and valued relic that is going to be the centre piece of the museum's upcoming exhibition Peru: Kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon – Identities and Conquest in the Ancient, Colonial and Modern Eras.

This golden Mochica octopus artefact is from the North Coast of Peru. It is estimated to be from 200 B.C.- 600 A.D. It is really a forehead ornament: a representation of a terrifying sea god with eight tentacles, with a feline head and octopus arms ending in catfish heads. 

This relic was dubbed “Peruvian Mona Lisa” by the international press. It now serves as a symbol of the war on art trafficking following an incredible story that began in 1988. In fact, this ornament was intercepted in a London gallery by Scotland Yard, following a tip from an informer in 2004. It was recovered in 2006 by the Peruvian authorities and returned to the Museo de la Nación in Lima.

This head ornament will be exhibited in Montreal with additional 370 works of art (paintings, sculptures, gold and silver ornaments, pottery, photographs, works on paper, textiles and videos) which came from almost fifty public and private collections, spanning 3,000 years of history and including archaeological discoveries in recent decades.

Why was this piece referred to as Peru's Mona Lisa? It does have an unusual grin which, however, has absolutely nothing to do with the Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of Mona Lisa - the symbol of feminine beauty and grace, and of the most enigmatic smile for which the painting is internationally renowned.  Maybe the Mona Lisa name, given to the Peruvian relic, was meant to primarily reflect the artefact's great cultural and monetary value, comparable to that of the Leonardo da Vinci's painting?

The two photos, one just above and the other below this paragraph, clearly show to what an extend the creature's grin is terrifying. This artefact - the forehead ornament - was most likely worn during human sacrifices and symbolizes the underworld. It reflects an ancient religion centred around human sacrificial death, and represents a vicious symbolism, judging from this demi-god's intense, scary and quite unpleasant expression.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' website.

Impressionism: Paintings From The Clark at MMFA

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

October 13, 2012 - January 20, 2013


The Montreal Museum of fine Arts (MMFA) was provided with the opportunity to host for 100 days the French impressionists' masterpieces from The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute at Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA. The visitors have a unique occasion to see closely works by Bonnard, Corot, Cassatt, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Millet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Sisley and Toulouse-Lautrec and Renoir.

If you love Degas you will see two of his great works on display. Both show dancers either practicing in a class or assuming dancing poses. The lightness and elegance of the  composition and form is remarkable, and the dancers' portrayal both on canvas or as a sculpture work are superb.

Renoir is represented by an outstanding group of twenty-one canvases, more numerous collection of works than that of any other impressionist painter on display at MMFA. 

Among them are two of Renoir's self-portraits. One he painted when he was 55 years old. But by far the more remarkable one, seen to the left, he did at about age 34. This self-portrait was one of the 17 works exhibited by Renoir at the second Impressionist exhibition in April 1876. It is a miracle this painting survived at all, since Renoir originally discarded it. Here is the story in his own words : "I had thrown it in a rubbish bin, but since [the collector Victor] Crocquet asked me to let him take it, I had to agree, even thought I was sorry it was not better than it was." It is remarkable that Renoir at that time still was not able to judge positively the briskness and freshness of the brush strokes used in making this self-portrait, the overall sincerity and forcefulness of the image, as well as of his facial expression.

Above are two magnificent female portraits by Renoir of which he was a real master. Both portray a sitter busy with a traditional domestic occupation. The one to the right has a bright red hat. Renoir had several hats at his studio and liked painting women wearing hats. 

Of the 39 paintings by Renoir in the Sterling Clark's possession the one above was by far his favourite. It was painted during Renoir's stay in Naples in late 1881.

The exhibition also presents a number of remarkable works by Claude Monet. They are the type of paintings one would imagine right away when the term Impressionism is used.
        

The Clark Impressionist exhibition at MMFA also features several Camille Pissarro's painting. See one just above on the right and two below.

I will conclude with a painting by Berthe Morisot, one of the female impressionist painters who is now acquiring an international acclaim. This painting was shown at the 1886 Impressionist exhibition. The painting, for which Morisot used one of her favourite model, captures a private moment of a respectable young woman.

Click on images to enlarge them.

To find out more about this exhibition and the opening hours, visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts website.

You can purchase the exhibition catalogue at the Museum's Boutique and Store.

Salon des métiers d'art 2012

Salon des métiers d'art

Salon des métiers d'art is a Montreal's annual show always held at Place Bonaventure. This year it will be open to public between December 7-22, 2012. Although it is mostly what French refer to as 'artisanat' and English as arts and crafts show, this year it also features some works of a considerable artistic merit.

This year the Salon also pays a special tribute to Ronald Labelle, a Quebec artist who works with glass but also uses mixed media. He is characterised by a diversity of techniques and materials.

You can see photos of his three works presented at the Salon at the top of this article, and also one of his other works just below.

Images of two other works of special artistic interest are shown below. The one to the left is presented by the Centre de Ceramique Bonsecours, and the other one to the right by the Institute des métiers d'art, CEGEP du Vieux Montreal.

You can find more about the Salon des métiers d'art 2012 and its opening hours by visiting the Salon's website.