CARRIED AWAY | L'INTERRUPTION

VIDA SIMON and JACK STANLEY

CARRIED AWAY | L'INTERRUPTION

  • Exposition
Vida Simon and Jack Stanley in residence at Galerie B-312

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS—1 PM TO 4 PM

January 13
January 17
January 24
January 27
January 31
February 3
February 7
February 10
February 14
February 17

PLEASE NOTE — ON SATURDAYS EXCEPTIONALLY
January 20 — No performance February10 — Performance from 1 pm to 2 pm, with the participation of musician Malcolm Goldstein
You are free to leave and return throughout the performance

Vida Simon combines various media to form site-responsive installations and performances. Her work has been presented internationally, in diverse contexts such as galleries, hotel rooms, storefronts, theatres, rooftops, a former synagogue, an old horse stable... Recent projects include a solo exhibition at Kunsthalle Lingen (Germany) and a coproduction with 3e impérial (Granby, Québec). A running thread throughout her practice is drawing, a form that most directly expresses her interests in visual storytelling, improvisation, and the resonance of elemental materials. Her work often draws attention to the detail, the intimate, and the ephemeral.

Jack Stanley is an art writer, independent curator, and arts administrator based in Montréal. His interest in interdisciplinary practice and context-oriented art started in the early ‘90s while studying at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Since then he has been preoccupied with the issue of place and the often-overlooked significance of context in the production and reception of artworks. Key theoretical areas of interest include hospitality, situated knowledge, critical regionalism, and institutional critique.

11 janvier 2018 au 17 février 2018

Galerie B-312 is pleased to start the year 2018 with the latest exhibition by Vida Simon and Jack Stanley, Carried Away | The interruption. Two people in a bare space. They wear similar work clothes, cut from the same fabric. She draws. He acts in withdrawal. They work mainly in silence, but are continually in communication.-She stands on a low platform. In front of her, a pile of paper and several pieces of handmade charcoal. She draws continuously. Her gestures add, but also erase. A repetition, an iteration of actions. On paper, the drawing and the features are written, marking her presence. She abandons herself. He observes, writes, captures and frames images. It's his way of responding to her. He intervenes periodically. He interrupts the gesture, giving his partner a break. Freed momentarily, she can take on another action. She knows that she can act without fear. When they are not in the space, their presence is still visible. The unfinished drawings and the tools left behind give an impression of suspended time. Finally, there is us. Both in front and within the work taking form. Sitting at the performance or taking note of the space in transformation. We are, in a way, part of this proposition unfolding in space and time.-This way of working allows the artists to articulate parts of their individual practice. It opens to a unique physical, mental and creative space, based on collaboration. How do performance, drawing, writing and photography feed their conceptual approach? How, in return, do concepts from theoretical sources affect their work? In their proposal, Vida Simon and Jack Stanley adopt a position in which their association becomes both the driving force and the subject of their practice, allowing them to preserve, while observing each other, a critical part in their work. Work where the concept of authorship and production of art objects is questioned.-Carried Away | L’interruption forms over the next six weeks. Performances will be held regularly. An exceptional opportunity to appreciate the richness of their artistic partnership, which has become inseparable from the intimate bond that has united them for more than 24 years. 

This performance-installation follows residencies at the Comox Valley Art Gallery in British Columbia (Spring 2017) and Gallery B-312 (Summer 2017).

 

—Isabelle Guimond