Mémoire de l’avenir

2022

AN URBAN DISPLAY EXHIBITION FEATURING THE WORK OF ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING ARTISTS

L’Art dans la rue presents its exhibition for the 2022 summer season: Mémoire de l'avenir. An urban poster exhibition representing the works of established and emerging artists.

This project was born from a desire to create connections between different generations of Quebec artists.

The exhibition, curated by Caroline Douville, is composed of 3 pairs, each one regrouping an established artist and an emerging artist. These intergenerational encounters lead us to immerse ourselves in Quebec art and to reflect on the progression of certain themes in the artistic imagination.

From July to September, walk through the streets of Montreal to see these artwork reproductions in Publicité Sauvage’s urban posting network, then scan the QR codes to live a complete experience by listening to the podcasts created for this project. This way, you will have the opportunity to learn more about the curatorial process behind the selection of the works.

THE CURATOR’S VISION

URBAN RENDEZVOUS: FROM ONE DECADE TO THE NEXT

Through all of its possibilities, the urban space is full of artistic gems that are created over time. The generations that separate them prevent them from talking to each other. The city isolates them in geographical and social parameters: it is a plurality of places for a plurality of individuals. The display spaces then create a meeting point between these artist-thinkers, their common sensibility being characterized by contemporary aesthetics and themes. Mémoire de l’avenir is a showcase of this reunion that citizens are invited to. Taking place in the public space, this event is using the coldness and hardness evoked by the street furniture as a component of the experience.

Nicolas Grenier and Andrée-Anne Mercier use saturated colors and geometric patterns to highlight societal issues, while Jannick Deslauriers and Jesus Castro Rosas question existential paradoxes by exploring materiality in several facets. Karen Tam and Tong Zhou Lafrance discuss the cultural and identity clash between China and Quebec. They build objects and installations that address their experience of hybrid identity and question the construction of narratives on the Chinese diaspora.

Caroline Douville, Curator

CAROLINE DOUVILLE - BIOGRAPHY

(she)

Caroline Douville is a multidisciplinary artist and independent curator living and working in Montréal. BFA recipient in Studio Art from Concordia University in 2019, she is currently doing a certificate in Museology at the Université du Québec à Montréal. In 2020, she curated the exhibition Écho Boomer: Digital Natives at Projet Casa. Since 2021, she has been part of the artist and curatorial collective Intervals. With the collective, she co-curated the 14th edition of Festival Art Souterrain: Voies/voix résilientes. Her work has been presented in several group exhibitions in Montréal and the United States, notably at the Chandran Gallery (San Francisco, 2021) and the Clark Centre (Montréal, 2022).

The Pairs

NICOLAS GRENIER, ANDRÉE-ANNE MERCIER

Discover this artist pair

JANNICK DESLAURIERS, JESUS CASTRO ROSAS

Discover this artist pair

KAREN TAM, TONG ZHOU LAFRANCE

Discover this artist pair

Podcasts

In these three episodes of the Mémoire de l’avenir podcast, Caroline Douville, the exhibition curator, invites the three artist pairs to talk about what they share as creatives. In French.
Listen on Spotify or Youtube :

COLLABORATION WITH SDCs FOR THE BEAUTIFICATION OF THE PUBLIC SPACE

The 2022 edition of the project Mémoire de l'avenir was presented in three neighborhoods in Montreal. The exhibition was displayed on poster towers, a three-dimensional gallery in a public place. The towers were sponsored by the Business Development Corporations (SDC) of the neighborhoods where they are installed.

They represent an opportunity to make neighborhoods and pedestrian zones culturally dynamic. In addition to their aesthetic quality, they provide a didactic dimension that invites reading and contemplation.