NEW VOICES
Radiant Mountain
October 27 – December 10, 2022
Artists
Jean-Maxime Dufresne & Virginie Laganière
Curator
Gentiane Bélanger
Overview
Centred on the recent work of Jean-Maxime Dufresne and Virginie Laganière, Radiant Mountain stems from their lengthy research conducted during residencies in Switzerland and looks at the complexity of the alpine environment. Through an unconventional methodology that spans fieldwork, theoretical research, speculative approach, documentation, and photographic, video and sound installation, Dufresne and Laganière ponder the legacy of modernity in high-altitude terrain. Indeed, beyond its monolithic presence, the mountain is a complex hyperobject whose impact reverberates across multiple planes. Here, nature, technology, architecture, scientific research, health, spirituality and wellness intertwine in a heterochrony that brings together the human, glaciological and tectonic time frames.
Structured in interrelated chapters, the project straddles documentary reality, fiction and conceptual thinking in a work of image and sound, as it maps the myriad of anthropogenic facets through which we enter into a relationship with the mountain. It explores how alpine environments are harnessed for their hydraulic energy; the threatened splendor of their glaciers, embedded like fragile crystals; the earthly magnetism that emanates from them and which has historically been associated with spiritual radiance; as well as the purity of the alpine air and high-altitude solar cures, symbols of atmospheric luminescence.
With support from the Principal Residency Program at La Becque (La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland), the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
Virtual Tour
Artists
Jean-Maxime Dufresne and Virginie Laganière are research-based artists whose investigations deal with transformations related to our built, natural and technological environments and their social realities, with a particular emphasis on the human psyche. Anthropological in nature, their approach is based on a methodology that draws mainly from field explorations developed during travels and residencies abroad. Blurring fictional and documentary strategies, their work of the image becomes an inquiry conducive to other forms of narratives. As experienced in their multifaceted installations, photography, video and sound art interact with sculptural elements and architectural displays to create productive tensions using an array of materials.
In addition to their individual practices, they have been collaborating for close to twenty years. Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, their work has been presented in exhibitions and residencies in Quebec and internationally. These include the Galerie de l’UQAM, Musée d’art de Joliette, Optica, L’Oeil de Poisson, VU Photo / Manif d’art, Occurrence, Tokyo Arts and Space, Studio du Québec in Rome, Inside-Out Art Museum in Beijing, Titanik Gallery and Helsinki International Artist Programme (HIAP). In the summer of 2022, they will continue their research project Radiant Mountain initiated in 2021 as part of the Principal Residency Program of La Becque, in Switzerland.
Documentation
