Canada-Bulgaria exchange

Symbolizing historical rupture, the fall of the Berlin Wall stands as a major turning point of our era. Although its repercussions will continue to be probed and analyzed long into the future, it is already evident that this event has fostered cultural dialogue between the geographic regions formerly known as “the Western world” and “the Eastern block.” Now that this dialogue is possible, and indeed common, Westerners are becoming familiar with the Eastern countries, and vice versa. radical: vaguely, Canada-Bulgaria exchange addresses this phenomenon and allows Canadian and Bulgarian artists to step squarely into “the other culture.” The project is designed as a hybrid experiment meant to foster cultural commingling.

Coproduced with Plein sud, centre d’exposition en art actuel in Longueuil, radical: vaguely, Canada-Bulgaria exchange is a highpoint of EXPRESSION’s 2003-2004 program. It affords four Bulgarian and four Quebec artists the opportunity to exchange ideas and experience production residencies in each other’s country. The work that comes out of these residencies will be exhibited first in Bulgaria, at the National Gallery in Sofia, then in Quebec, at EXPRESSION, Plein sud and the Société des arts technologiques (SAT), in Montreal.

Opening on November 15, 2003 (EXPRESSION, Plein sud, SAT).
Public talk by the artists on November 15 at 3 pm.

The projet radical : vaguely, échange Canada-Bulgarie is co-produced by EXPRESSION and Plein sud in collaboration with the Société des arts technologiques.

The poetic creations of Catherine Bodmer and Catherine Ross share many aesthetic and thematic similarities. Both artists favour accumulated objects and commonplace materials, and their respective works are notable for real or implied fluidity and a territorial notion. The exhibition points up these similarities in a parallel display of selected sculptural, photographic and multisensorial pieces.

David Moore was born in Dublin and lives in Saint-Denis-sur-Richelieu, near Saint-Hyacinthe. A sculptor of international renown, he holds a distinguished place in the history of art in Quebec. His work at EXPRESSION is a site-specific installation that combines sculptural exploration with other artistic techniques, including drawing directly on the gallery walls and installing mirrors to create a play of reflections. The exhibition also includes large-format photos of an installation work produced in the artist’s studio.

Lucie Duval works with the semantic power of words. Here, she writes them in such a way as to create new affiliations between images, objects and space, which tends to reverse the meaning of the whole. This exhibition is based on the show presented at Occurrence, espace d’art et d’essai contemporains last year but has been expanded with an important selection of additional works.

Since 1980, Montreal artist Linda Covit has been exploring the different facets of gardens as cultural repositories and meditative sites. Influenced by Japanese culture, architecture and Buddhist temples, her sulptural ans photographic créations inspire calm and serenity. She is exhibiting recent works at EXPRESSION.