May 2012
2 posts
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...
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April 2012
5 posts
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!
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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...
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...
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...
March 2012
3 posts
“In adapting Jean Berger’s song into comics, I wanted to provide a kind of visual...”
– Interview with Julian Peters
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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...
February 2012
3 posts
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Q and A with Stephanie Coleman
How long have you known Jean Berger for?
Hmm, Jean and I have known each other for only a few months, though I feel like we’re old friends. I can’t say I know all his secrets, but I’ve got some dirt on him.
What is your idea of what his works may have looked like? How would you describe him?
To me, Jean B. is a survivor type… I think he must have been a charming...
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Q and A with Julian Peters
How long have you known Jean Berger for, how would you describe him?
I first came across a mention of Jean Berger in some or other book of Montreal history, maybe about 10 years ago. A few years later, it occurred to me that this roguish song-writing painter and jailbird could make a good subject for a comic, but I couldn’t recall his name, nor in which book I had read about him. I remember...
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Featured Artist: David J. Romero
David J Romero is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice incorporates film, video, installation and photography. His work often explores issues of the self, religious and cultural appropriation, gender, and sexuality. By using theatrically staged photographs, David explores the potential for story telling through his works. He received his BFA from Concordia in 2009.
David J. Romero....
January 2012
2 posts
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Featured Artist: Wahsontiio Cross
Wahsontiio Suzanne Cross, One feather, detail (cover). 2010-2011. Block print, serigraphy, pen, pencil, copy toner.
Wahsontiio Cross’s multidisciplinary art practice balances the personal and the cultural both between her own perspectives and her desire to address larger cultural issues. Through both her art practice and her research as a recent graduate of Concordia with a Masters in Art...
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Featured Artist: Stephanie Coleman
Stephanie Coleman. Title of Work: Romame (toile de jouy)
Image printed in dye on cotton muslin. 2011.
Stephanie Coleman’s multidisciplinary practice is shaped by her Romany (Gypsy) heritage. She is inspired by the Romany’s history as outcasts across Europe and their ability to blend in, adapting to and appropriating aspects of the cultures by which they were oppressed. Her work therefore...
December 2011
7 posts
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Featured Artist: Laura Findlay
Laura Findlay. Tom and His Father’s Books from ‘The Relics’ series. Archival Inkjet Print. 2011
Laura’s practice explores absence, nostalgia, memory, and the im/possibility of how we come to know those who have died. Through the objects and memories that are still with us, Laura draws on personal history and the histories of friends and strangers through the medium of photography....
Featured Artist: Joanna Lemon
Joanna Lemon; Coral Bleaching 1 (Environmental Craftivism Project: Button Campaign series); 2011; dimensional embroidery: self cover button form, broach pin, cotton muslin, cotton thread, linen thread, wool yarn, seedbeads, Charlottes, rescued buttons, fabric dye, fabric paint.
Joanna’s artistic practice focuses on tactile processes and fibre arts techniques including embroidery, crochet,...
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Featured Artist: Julian Peters
Julian Peters. “The Origins of the Montreal Gazette- page 1”.
As promised, we will be posting weekly features showcasing the artists who are part of the Jean Berger Project.
Julian Peters is a comic book artist and illustrator based in Montreal. He’s also the artist behind the drawing of Jean Berger we’re using as a promotional image for the exhibition.
Over the past...
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PRESENTING: THE ARTISTS OF THE JEAN BERGER PROJECT
After much deliberation, the curatorial team selected six exciting projects from emerging artists to be part of the Jean Berger Project. We will be posting weekly features highlighting each of these artists, their practices and their projects for this exhibition as they grow and develop. For now, we are pleased to introduce them to you:
Stephanie Coleman I am a multidisciplinary artist in my...
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MEET THE CURATORIAL TEAM
Maya Soren is a recent graduate of the Master of Arts in Art History programme at Concordia University (2011). She wrote her Master’s thesis on the Eaton’s Ninth Floor Restaurant in Montreal. Maya’s thesis contributes to the growing discourse of feminist architectural history through her assessment of the restaurant’s social and cultural value as a gendered space. Maya received an Honours...
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS CLOSED
Thank you to so many artists for your fascinating and stimulating project proposals this week. Submissions closed on Saturday, and the curatorial team met and has made their selections. We will be announcing the artists later today, stay tuned!
September 2011
2 posts
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS - Nov 26 2011
Jean Berger is the most documented painter of New France, due to his many legal charges of forgery, assault and robbery in Montreal in the early 1700s. He was a painter, yet his works are unknown today. All documentation about Berger is in legal manuscripts covering his infamous trial in 1704. Over three hundred years later, Dr. F.-M. Gagnon has published a book about Berger’s life and work,...