Curators in Conversation: Lindsay Cory

What drew  you to this project? Seeing it finally come together, what do these works say together?

Originally, I was drawn to the project as a chance to work as a team in the curatorial process of such a large show. After hearing Dr. Gagnon speak so enthusiastically about the project I found that my own sensibilities as an aspiring art historian could be useful to a project like this. My interest in “forgotten” landscapes and cultures as well as the seedier side of Montreal all interested me.  

After selecting the artists though, what ultimately influenced the project was the diversity with which Concordia students and Alumni were interested in such a topic too. The artist’s methods of approaching the character and history of Jean Berger, from embroidery and mapping to graphic comic culture, further confused the notion of “Jean Berger,” who and what he was, I think the confusion and lack of information makes this project extremely interesting. 

 What noteworthy ideas or critical questions arose through the works you wrote about for the exhibition? What do you feel they added to the exhibition?

Joanna Lemon’s work begged the question of mapping for me - a key concern with many post-colonial studies of a place or nation. I was interested in how Lemon, a student of Montreal architecture herself, would use a historical map of Montreal in a contemporary work of art. Julian Peters’ work also questioned narrative as he explores Jean Berger’s story through comic drawings. I thought it was interesting how he made critical judgements on the characters, he seemed to be the only artist to attempt to give a face to Jean Berger’s name. It was a daring and appreciated move on his part I think!

 ———- Lindsay Cory, member of the Jean Berger Project curatorial team

Sneak Preview as the Show Goes Up

The artists and curators of the Jean Berger Project have been busy installing the exhibition this past week. The exhibition will be up from April 30th to May 25th in the vitrine of the FOFA gallery at Concordia, be sure to take a look this month. Tonight is the performance by David Romero at 7pm. The exhibition finissage and catalogue launch will be held on May 22nd at 6 pm, see you there!

Joseph Yarmush, our photographer for the exhibition publication

Laying out labels for Laura Findlay’s photo series

Stephanie Coleman and an assistant installing her toile.

Q and A with Wahsontiio Cross

How long have you known Jean Berger for?

Just recently. But who really knows him?

What is your idea of what his works may have looked like?

I can imagine he was able to create anything he thought up.

How would you describe him? 

I imagine he was a man who both stood out, yet could blend in. A shape-shifter if you will. 

What drew you to this project? 

The opportunity to tell history from a different perspective

What discoveries or challenges have you have encountered along the way? 

Narrowing down my ideas. Whose stories do I tell? What bits and pieces do I include/exclude?

Which Mohawk histories are you focusing on for your artist book?

I am not pinpointing any specific events. This is a history of the land, which is very much congruent with the story of people. Our relationship to our environment defines us, and I will explore the various relationships to the land, dealing with abundance and loss, connection and separation.

 How do these perspectives change or expand upon the typical narratives of New France and Montreal during Jean Bergers era?  

Often history reflects the settler views of things and doesn’t take into account the stories that were here when they arrived. We only hear about the notion of place and people in the colonial voice, rather than a native one. The native story is always told from third person perspective, and I want to offer a first-person perspective.

How will your work fill the historical gaps where the people of Kahnawake are concerned?

What types of relationships our people had with the land, even before the “reservation” system was established, before our movements and access to resources were restricted by new and imposing laws. Moving around, sharing, and the notion of home in several places is something the colonists just couldn’t seem to grasp.

Q and A with Laura Findlay

How long have you known Jean Berger?

I was introduced to him with the idea of the project, and have gotten to know him better through the pages of the book.

What is your idea of what his works may have looked like? How would you describe him?

It’s hard to imagine a painter working in New France who wouldn’t be inspired by what lay beyond the walls of early Montreal. I imagine his works would have been a mixture of commissioned pieces depicting specific buildings and spaces from the growing city, and landscapes showing the wilderness beyond. I would describe him as a wily survivor, someone who would do what was necessary to make it from day to day but who was probably capable of unwinding at the end of the day like a champion.

What discoveries or challenges have you have encountered along the
way?

My practice normally begins with objects, either for inspiration or as a part of the final piece. What I learned fairly early in my research is that objects from such an early point in history are next to impossible to find. Partially because of a lack of effort to maintain everyday items from such a difficult time and partially because of the objects that people did have they were either hand-crafted from available materials or imported which make them hard to distinguish from items from Europe from the same era. Not being able to look at or be around artifacts from the era is what led me to the project as it stands now, using my research to make my own relics, those of which talk about the ideas and issues I’ve become most interested in.

 
Can you tell us a bit about your family history in Quebec, how does
your aesthetic communicate this history?

My grandmother was very old blood in Quebec with members of our family insisting it date back to the early 18th century. Unfortunately there exists no hard evidence to this fact, but my interest in learning about this era is driven in part to better understand her and her life and the lives of the women who preceded her. I’m using lighting and a studio setup that’s less clean and precise for these photos. I’ve found myself trying to think about what the light of the night in the city would have been like, and how hard daily life really was. This has probably translated to the dark mood of the final photos with more dramatic lighting.

 
What do you know about the women of New France?

Going into this project I had only the information family history and late night movies on the CBCto guide me about what the lives of the first immigrants to Quebec would have lived like. Since beginning research for this project my entire view of the early history of Quebec has sharpened. The information I’ve learned about the early structure of the city and the people who made it happen has given me a fresh perspective on how unique Quebec and its culture truly are, and what’s made it into what it exists as today.

Q and A with Joanna Lemon

How long have you known Jean Berger?
I have only known this man for a short time, but I feel like we hear about others like him regularly in the news.

How would you describe him?
In a word, scoundrel.

Work in progress. Joanna Lemon.

What is your idea of what his works may have looked like?
In the court documents he claimed he did work decorating churches, but I suspect that was only most visible part of his “practice”. He called himself an artist, and at least in the Hollywood movies, that’s what forgers call themselves. I think he was an artist of documents, recreating official seals, copying signatures, someone to whom one would go to have official papers made when they couldn’t have been obtained through proper channels. He would know the right language to use, and whose signatures to forge so his work would pass inspection, though if presented to the official whose hand he copied would know it was false. I think when he was first building his skills, he did a conscientious job to provide a quality product to his clients, hence his aggrandizing language of calling himself an artist, but once he had developed a reputation, he let things slip, which is how he was caught. But his ego would force him to claim a superior level of competence.
So to answer the question, I think his work looked like, but were not, official documents, like personal references, wills, military commissions, customs approvals, etc.

What drew you to this project?
As a student of Art History at Concordia, I am familiar with Dr. Gagnon’s work, and while it doesn’t directly connect with my own research, I am focused on the history of Montreal, so it made for an interesting spin-off.

Work in progress. Joanna Lemon.

What discoveries or challenges have you have encountered along the way?
Time management has been a challenge. I’ve come to the conclusion that however long I might estimate something will take, to multiply that time by at least five, if not ten, or even twenty. Finding the time to embroider around thesis revisions and my other commitments is a challenge, because it had always been my guilty pleasure. It still feels a bit weird to be embroidering instead of writing or researching.

What was the Blackwork technique?

Blackwork is a technique that was originally developed in Europe. There are several traditions, but one which can been seen in a well-known example, is one the famous portrait of Jane Seymor (1537) by Hans Holbein the Younger. If you look closely at her cuffs,  the traceries of Blackwork can be seen, in the place of lace. This was often done because this embroidery is faster than lacemaking, while still giving a similar effect. On a side note, the principle stitch used is often referred to as Holbein stitch.
While, as the name would imply, it was usually black thread on white or off-white fabric, historically there was a version that replaced black thread for red, and in today’s revival of the technique permits the use of colour, a fact I am taking advantage of to bring in the colours drawn from the plan of Montreal from 1704.
The designs of Blackwork are delicate and often worked with a single thread, though multiple threads can be used for emphasis. Also Blackwork tends to look the same on both sides, but it depends on how the design is built. This particular work will not be the same on both the front and the back.

mock up sketch. Joanna Lemon

What are some of the images and visual or conceptual layers that will be incorporated into your Blackwork project?

I am taking advantage of a plan of the city published the year of his trial that I found while doing research for my Master’s thesis. It is coincidently the same image used on the cover of the book. My thesis addresses the idea of official narratives, and I thought that it would be interesting to use the map to represent the official narrative of New France, and Montreal, at this time. The image we have of this period is predominantly based on the prominent portraiture of important figures of the government and the church, so to add a layer of complexity to the embroidery I chose to use the technique of steganography, hiding an image within an image. I will be including a tavern scene blended into the map. As there was ongoing unrest with the English and First Nations at that time, there were many French soldiers in town, and when they weren’t on duty, they did what soldiers do the world over: they drank, they gambled, they fought, and they sought the company of women, to put it delicately. These activities will be incorporated into the tavern scene.
In addition, there will be a third level of imagery; Blackwork traditionally makes use of geometric and floral motifs to fill in an enclosed area. I will take advantage of this to include symbols of the seedy underbelly of society, in the form of repetitive pattern of such things as tankards, knives, and coins. I may also include official symbols such as the French fleur-de-lys, perhaps if I feel it’s necessary to make a fill for the buildings on the map.

Q and A with David Romero

How long have you known Jean Berger for?

“The difference between false memories and true ones is the same as for jewels: it is always the false ones that look the most real the most brilliant” Salvador Dali.

I only knew about Jean Berger when I was invited to summit a proposal for this show, and after reading the book published by Dr. Gagnon. I was immediately seduced by the idea of the artist as a criminal, fraud, drunk and menace to society. I think those adjectives have accompanied hand-in-hand the reality of the artist in the history of humanity.

Artists do not follow conventional everyday life styles (at least the artist I care about). We are usually judged or/and applaud for having unorthodox ways of doing conventional things.

What is your idea of what his works may have looked like? How would you describe him?

I have no idea what his worked may have looked like,  I couldn’t describe him either. I can say however, that he called himself an Artist, and he made it official in court. If his art was any good we will never know. He believed he was an artist; and the end of the day, that is the only thing that matters.

 ‘Les Filles Du Roi” (detail) 

What drew you to this project?

Absence is a terrible kind of presence.

Joseph Krutch says that security depends not upon how much you have, as upon how much you can do without. Since the spring of 2010, when I met Tiger, I started documenting my life around the familiar people who matter to me: the ones that stay and the ones that left. When Tiger left I started the project called Tigerless but Hopeful where my ultimate goal was to learn how to live well without. I travel to places that are of significance to me and I stage mundane moments like stills from a movie: events that altogether read as narratives. The Weeding in Berlin, and The Grieving in Venice are examples of these events. Altarpiece Variation No. 2 (Love Live) is the coronation of this project.

The story:

While I was preforming The Grieving in the canals of Venice, our gondolier, Christian, took a pit stop in front of the Ukrainian Pavilion of the 54th Venice Biennale.  My heart shattered in an instant not only because my lost-love was from Ukrainian decent, but also because of the nature of the work. The artist Oksana Mass has taken details from the Ghent Altarpiece and re-create them with the use of the traditional Krashenki: Ukrainian folk custom wooden eggs covered in decorations celebrating Easter. Interestingly enough, the artist invited people from over 40 different countries to paint them, this fact allowed a sense of completeness only to be achieved by the presence of the other.

Altarpiece Variation No. 2 (love live) is charged with imagery that draws upon Montreal’s mise-en-scene and my own symbols and their meanings. The word symbol has its roots in Greek and it refers to a half-token that can only convey a meaning when reunited with its other-half. Driven by an instinct of survival and self-preservation I need to produce beautiful things in order to cope with the thunder of my heart…. It gets dark in there. Even though, this body of work was conceived in 2008, it was only produced in 2012, after I met The Chef.  It wasn’t time then, now it is.

Photo Credit Melanie Boisvert 

How does your project explore the ‘soul’ of Montreal?

The soul of a place is drawn upon by the people and the life that inhabits it.

The possibility of enhancing ones senses, ones consciousness, ones spirituality by recurring to a geographical place it is not a new concept. We travel to places to find comfort, shelter, inspiration and even forgiveness. Which ever it is our own experience the possibility of reaching these higher states of consciousness and enlightenment exist for all of us as human beings.

Firstly, I traveled to Montreal to pursue my dream as an artist, and secondly my life as a man. I bloomed in Montreal, as Lourdes (my mother) says. Montreal has been a very kind and cruel place, but mostly kind. I leave when I must, but I find myself returning, and always looking back when I’m away. I have a small apartment in Montreal that I would not change for the world.  A place where stories have been written, where love has been made and where magic had happened… so I like to come back to that: the idea that IT CAN HAPPEN AGAIN. The day that it stops happening, we will migrate somewhere else like the butterflies do.

Photo Credit Melanie Boisvert  

Where does your interest in the religious aesthetic of Montreal stems from?

I was raised Catholic by my 2 grandmas: Sara and Eve, very differently I was raised.

With Sara (Zarathustra as I call her) I attended mass in Lazaro Cardenas, a dusty poor town in the pacific side of the continent, where the movie Terminator was shot. It is hot and dirty over there. I remember attending mass as a child in my underwear and covered in chocolate ice cream. While holding my grandmas hand I was hypnotized by the incense, flowers, rituals of fire, and peregrinations with chanting and candle-lights. Evelia, on the other hand, was a wealthy-city-woman who lived in Guadalajara, Mexico. She attended mass also every Sunday, but she will only take me if I was showered, properly dressed and with shoes perfectly shinned. She explained to me that when I become a man, I must always take communion, while pointing at the people who remain sitting. She said that those who remain in their sits, without part taking in the eating and drinking of The Body-and-blood-of-Christ, were all sinners, and had failed to make their confession. I must always approach the altar to take communion, she said. And so I did.

Photo Credit Melanie Boisvert  

What discoveries or challenges have you have encountered along the way?

I met The Chef, at the end of 2011, whose incredible thirst for life is contagious, and whose knuckles read ‘LOVE LIVE’.

While the pre-production of this piece The Chef never asked me to stop, and the project became bigger and bigger and BIGGER! We shot 11 different shots, 10 different light sets, 3 cameras (4x 5, digital and video) 15 actors including children, tons of props, clothes and food, hair an make up. All of this happened in one day!

The Chef kept the crew happy with delicious little snacks, that would keep us nourished and focused. It was a great team effort; life gave me a dream team. I LOVE THEM ALL!!!

I encounter an incredible amount of challenges in completing this piece, but mysteriously enough they kept resolving themselves effortlessly. The production of this piece have been possible by my own harem and a series of daily miracles: Blake Mackay is The Chef, Juan Saez the D.O.P., Andy Long Hoang  (ELLE Vietnam) my digital camera man, Bogdan Stoica in charge of the large format camera, James Patrick hair stylist, Logan Mackay is the videographer and don’t forget my personal guardian angel and legal adviser: Giuseppe Calderone who makes sure I eat and sleep accordingly. My lovely ladies: Kelty Lewis is the make-up artist, Cecilia Rossell my stylist, Annie Brace-Lavoie who was The Chef’s assistant for a day, Dana Dal Bo my friend and family who has help me in picking up the pieces of my heart and put it back together and Melanie Boisvert my first assistant: SHE WAS KILLING IT!!!!!

I also had an incredible support from friends who helped me out Stephan W., Alex Soubiran, Tristan Joseph Boisvert, Rodnny Lago, Alisha Piercy, Earl Pinchuk, Marisa Portolese, Thomas Waugh, Evergon, Corey Turnbull, Frank Perreault, Flavia Majilis and my Executive Producers Enrico Maffeis in Zurich, Arturo Avila Val in Mexico and Chanel Foucault in Paris.

I also want to mention a recent addition to the team: Miss Sophie Edell, contemporary artist, who I have commissioned an art work that will cover the vitrines of the Fofa Gallery while the Altarpiece is being installed. Sophie’s artwork will go up on Tuesday April 24th, and will come down on the sixth day, Sunday the 29th of April. On the seventh day, we rest.

Click here to see a video preview of Altarpiece Variation No. 2 (Love Live) http://jeanbergerproject.tumblr.com/post/19567038574/this-preview-offers-a-first-glimpse-into-david