Montréal, September 12, 2017 – The countdown has begun: there are only two weeks left to discover or go back to see the two summer exhibitions at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC): Olafur Eliasson: Multiple Shadow House and In Search of Expo 67. Since their launch at the MAC in June, the temporary exhibitions have attracted and generated the strongest reactions among visitors and the media.
Shadow and light are at the centre of this first Canadian solo exhibition by world-renowned Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson. With Multiple Shadow House, Eliasson is giving visitors the chance to literally step into the work and become its co-producer. “[…] [Olafur Eliasson] leads us on a gripping perceptual discovery that explores our body’s relationship with space, light and movement through the recurring effects created by shadow, water and natural phenomena,” says John Zeppetelli, Chief Curator and General Director of the MAC.
For their part, the 19 Quebec and Canadian artists brought together for In Search of Expo 67 provide an innovative and contemporary experience of the fair. Architecture, sound art, visual arts, cinema and music serve as some of the highlights of this major creative encounter. Deeply rooted in artistic and archival research, the work showcases the great artistic freedom granted to the artists, architects, filmmakers and designers who took part in the original exhibition, their experimentation with cutting-edge technology, and the diversity of their creations. The exhibition is part of the official program of Montreal’s 375th Anniversary and Expo 67 – 50 years later.
According to The New York Times: “50 years later, Montreal’s museums are in the grip of Expomania, and no fewer than five exhibitions revisit the summer of 1967 and dreams of the future that could have been. […] The most engrossing of these shows is “In Search of Expo 67,” an incisive, sometimes wistful exploration of the fair and its afterlives by nearly two dozen contemporary artists, on view at the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, known as MAC. Most of the Canadians included here were not yet born when the world came to town. But they are captivated by the Expo’s lofty, humanistic rhetoric and nationalist underbelly — and while the show fits into a larger vogue in the art world for all things late ’60s, it also pulses with a tenderness toward Expo’s utopianism that makes it more than just a belated critique.”
Noteworthy
- Don’t miss MAC’s upcoming Nocturne, which will take place on September 15, 2017: https://macm.org/en/activities/nocturne-of-september-15-2017/
- There are still a few opportunities to meet the artists part of In Search of Expo 67, as part of conversations at the MAC: https://macm.org/en/activities/meet-the-artists-and-curators/
- Artist Michel de Broin will provide a guided tour of Olafur Eliasson: Multiple Shadow House on September 13, 2017: https://macm.org/en/activities/guided-tours-as-part-of-the-olafur-eliasson-exhibition/
Acknowledgments
The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (MAC) is a provincially owned corporation funded by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec. It receives additional funding from the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts. The MAC gratefully acknowledges their support. The MAC also thanks its partners, Loto-Québec and Ubisoft Montréal, and its media partners, La Presse and Publicité Sauvage.
The MAC is also sincerely grateful to the Tanya Bonakdar Gallery for its generous loan of artworks and cooperation in the design of the Olafur Eliasson : Multiple Shadow House exhibition.
In Search of Expo 67 has been organized with the support of CINEMAexpo67, Concordia University, the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology, Hexagram, Cinémathèque québécoise, Place des Arts, Archives de la Ville de Montréal, National Film Board of Canada, National Gallery of Canada, Library and Archives Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
Located in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal makes today’s art a vital part of Montréal and Québec life. For more than fifty years, this vibrant museum has brought together local and international artists, their works and an ever-growing public. It is also a place of discovery, offering visitors experiences that are continually changing and new, and often unexpected and stirring. The MAC presents temporary exhibitions devoted to outstanding and relevant current artists who provide their own particular insight into our society, as well as exhibitions of works drawn from the museum’s extensive Permanent Collection. These may feature any and every form of expression: digital and sound works, installations, paintings, sculptures, ephemeral pieces, and more. In addition to its wide range of educational activities familiarizing the general public with contemporary art, the MAC organizes unique artistic performances and festive events. It is a window onto a myriad of avant-garde expressions that extend the reach of art throughout the city and beyond.
Source and Information
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Anne Dongois
T. 514 826-2050
[email protected]