Where: Galerie d'art Louise et Reuben Cohen (GAUM), Clement Cormier Building, Universite de Moncton
Time: Every day from 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
From June 16 to August 29 2010
Biographies: A Contemporary Look at Acadie
Curated by Jennifer Bélanger and Mario
Doucette at the invitation of the Owens Art Gallery (in 2008), Biographies presents work by eight Acadian artists from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario.
The opening, attended by the artists, will be held between 5 and 7 PM, on Wednesday, June 16. The opening will begin with a guided tour by Jennifer Bélanger and Mario Doucette explaining the work in relation to the theme of Biographies, at 5 PM.
Biographies illustrates the link between the identity of the artist and contemporary art practice. “In our era, life and art have become increasingly interlocked, and who a person is becomes an inescapable factor in the creative process. It is through this biographical tallying or narrative interpretation of individuality that we unveil to others who we think a person is” (J. Bélanger*). Thus the works of Maryse Arsenault, Jean-Denis Boudreau, Herménégilde Chiasson, François Gaudet, André Lapointe, Mathieu Léger, André Alan Phelps, and Stefan St-Laurent offer insights
into their life stories and suggest a more multifaceted Acadian identity.
“[…] several group exhibitions of contemporary Acadian art have been curated around the assumption that artists are inspired by their communities. Such projects try to define an Acadian art, assuming that similarities must exist in the work of artists of like origins […], but there are numerous exceptions” (M. Doucette*). As a whole, this exhibition puts forth a wide variety of manifestations of identity that span beyond a cultural and collective representation.
These examples are invested in a modern concept of identity, one that is more complex, individual, and fabricated from multiple elements, including the desire to reinvent oneself. “Though some focus on reality and others on fiction, they all convey personal truths” (J. Bélanger*).
