On now at Fleurbain until November 30 is a selection of works by painter Natasha Henderson.
You might know me (Natasha) from Fleurbain. Perhaps you know me from this blog, where I write about art, life, gardening, crafts, DIY, and more. Maybe you have taken a felt-making workshop with me, or joined in a drop-in-painting session in Fleurbain. What you might not know is that I have been a professionally exhibiting painter since 1998.
Changes. Oil on wood
I moved to Montreal from British Columbia in 2007. Since then, I have had a few studio spaces, from home-based ones, to massive industrial ones, to small corners in shared spaces. All the time, I have been painting. Now, I am opting to exhibit a few of my absolute favourite pieces that are still in my collection. Granted there are others that I would have loved to include, but you can pick out your faves from my website, if you would like.
Here is a spin around the exhibition. If you can make it in person, we are open Tuesdays to Thursdays, 3-6pm, and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6pm. Hope to see you!
Fleurbain is located at 460 St Catherine West, unit 917 in downtown Montreal. Very close to Place des Arts and McGill metros. Open Tuesday-Thursday 3-6, and Saturday-Sunday 12-6.
On March 31, three artists from the current exhibition Art and Architecture graced our podium and ears with their insights into Architecture and Art, citing artistic inspiration as diverse as book gilding, Bauhaus textiles, dreams, and beyond.
Today (April 14) at 3pm the exhibition’s remaining three artists will inspire us with talks about their works. Please join us if you can! I will share videos from their talks here, too… but in person you can participate in lively discussions following the presentations.
Thank you Marc Chabot, Naomi Frangos, and Keivan Khademi Shamami for taking your time the other week in sharing your thoughts with us.
Today we will hear what Denise Buisman Pilger, Kimberley Mok, and Jennifer Himilton have to say!
This March 15 marked the exhibition opening of Toronto-based Abbas Akhavan’s work Beacon at the Darling Foundry. There was also an open studio opportunity for the public to see work in progress by international artists in residence.
We were first struck by the enormity of the open space that Akhavan’s work was in. Over time, though, a great deal of this space was filled by a slowly inflating (and then deflating) hot air balloon.
In the video, you will also see a very short glimpse of the second main element in “Beacon”. This is a lion-like form, made out of mortar. The form was made in reference to an Iranian sculpture, the “Stone Lion” of Hamedan. Even if the viewer did not understand this, it made the impression of replicating a relic (even though it was, obviously, crafted for the exhibition.)
The balloon felt like respiration. It noted the expanse of the available room. It was quite striking, and everyone kept a respectful distance from it.
Overall the work gave an impression of temporality, air, place, erosion, and impermanence.
In the working studio area of the Darling Foundry we had the fortune to meet, chat with, and see the work of Dineo Bopape. She is in the midst of a six month international residency hosted by the Darling Foundry and the Canada Council for the Arts. She is from South Africa. Her work is video-based, and also includes installation, sculpture, and painting.
Bopape’s video work (what I spent the most time with, outside of almost drooling on some of her painted sketches of patterns using mostly orange paint) uses pattern, narrative, and a keen and sometimes quirky sort of observation. The piece about green grass and blue sky was both simple and mesmerizing, and reminded me of the one time I fainted. Everything was crisp, simplified, out of breath, and hyper-real. The patterns in the overlapping grasses were overwhelming.
Other of her works used theatrical elements such as dance, storytelling, and singing. Forms of life and the natural word made their appearances, too… ducks, humans, patterns of sparkly water, and what looked like tulips.
When her work delves into the use of natural patterns, objects, and animals it still seems to reference the human body. It is the human take on these other things that comes across in the video. The feeling that I had of fainting, as well as the empathy within her other videos, that is maturity and sureness being expressed. I am excited to see what Bopape will present upon her finishing the residency in June.
We will announce her exhibition in our newsletter, so there is no time like the present to sign up.
Akhavan’s Beacon runs until May 27. The Darling Foundry is located at 745 Ottawa, in that funky neighourhood between the Old Port and Griffintown.
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