Abstraction attraction

For seven years now, curator Joyce Millar and her team have been working at putting the West Island arts scene on the map.

With 'Abstraction in Quebec: Then and Now,' they are making a case for art aficionados to migrate from downtown Montreal to Pointe Claire as well as for West-Islanders to discover the great space of Stewart Hall Art Gallery.

The premise of the exhibition is to present Quebec’s unique mode of abstraction, rooted in the automatist tradition, and make it accessible to the public.

The space is thus divided in two main rooms. One shows the work of original automatists and 'plasticiens' from the '50s and the '60s - Molinari, Ferron, Tousignant, Leduc, Barbeau, Hurtubise and Guerin. The other room displays 26 pieces from Montreal contemporary artists, all integrating the legacy of the automatists and adapting it to contemporary concerns. “For example”, Miller explained, "Jerome Fortin took the idea of Tousignant’s concentric circles to the next level by making circles with cut out plastic bottles instead of painting them. The op-art character remains, but it integrates recycling, and is a comment on contemporary consumer society,” she said.

Millar also extolled the virtues of modern artists Paul Bureau and Stephane La Rue, whose work will also be exhibited. "Paul Bureau remained very close to the automatists, who explored the materiality of paint by exaggerating layers of paint to show it as a physical substance. With a very gestural technique, Bureau also uses layering, building thick shapes to make the painting three-dimensional," she said. "La Rue is also concerned with the depth of painting, playing, through monochrome white pieces, with textures and dimensions and using strong brush strokes and curved canvas support to show his pieces as object, not just representations. Today's artists are still exploring the questions posed by the automatists."

To help the public appreciate the complexity of such an ambitious exhibit, Millar recently gave, as part of the "Demystifying Art" series, a lecture on abstraction in Quebec. "It is essential to me to give a context to what I show," Millar said. "The reactions were very positive.A lot of people seemed to be very skeptical before I gave my talk, as if they were saying 'OK, convince me,' but I think I was successful in doing so," she said.

The numbers support her hypothesis -- attendance has almost quadrupled in the past six years. "There is definitely an interest and even a need for more art in the West Island," Millar said. "The gallery is also getting more and more attention from Montrealers."

She added the best way to appreciate abstract art is by comparing it to music: "When you listen to music, you don’t need a road map; you just enjoy the sounds. So why are people trying so hard to recognize something in abstract art? You should appreciate the shapes and colours. Look with your eyes without trying to make it something else."

The Abstraction in Quebec: Then and Now exhibit runs until June 24 at Stewart Hall Cultural Centre in Pointe Claire. For more information, call 514-630-1220.