From September 14 to October 22, 2024, the Centre d’artistes Voix Visuelle will host the exhibition Liminal Phenomenology by the artist Julie René de Cotret under the curatorship of Cesar Forero.
The opening of the exhibition scheduled for Thursday, September 19, 2024, will start at 5 p.m.
A closing event will take place on Tuesday October 22 in the presence of the curator. The exhibition will then be presented at the Temiskaming Art Gallery from November to December 2024.
Liminal Phenomenology
“When stories go from being a liminal event to a visual narrative built to endure.
Julie René de Cotret‘s work questions the liminality of stories and their fragility in time. If these stories are not told, protected with tact and courage, they tend to disappear; they will become what the world of the past was and become a liminal event of time and space of our ancestors. The spaces become a place that probably existed but is not in the collective memory of the inhabitants. The characters, flora and fauna of this site weaken over time, slowly leaving like the wind that passes and does not return.
René de Cotret engages with the stories and with the space actively, growing a new character from within that needs to be presented in a visually impactful way so that we do not forget it. This character is not aggressive or heartbreaking; on the contrary, it appears as a hybrid being – between the human, the animal and the plant world.
We are aware of the evolution of languages, spaces, and that stories change over time because we ourselves transform them. These stories situate our context, of the land that we belong to. We want to leave these spaces and stories for our descendants so that they can continue to build their own. So, the spaces and stories are not liminal, they take cues from legends; witnessed, sighted and dated — they deserve to be told and documented in art for the future.
In the gallery we find a series of short videos that require planning and assembly. They are a synthesis of the fabled legends that grew from this “place”, which must be protected, and in a somewhat romantic way it makes us smile wanting them to continue. The photographic images presented on the walls are photo documentation and photo performances. The gallery space becomes the framework for reconstructing history and the opportunity to document everything: water, plants, smells, sounds and the presence of life in general.
René de Cotret brings to this exhibition her past and present artistic research, with a firm and accurate political commentary.”
César Forero, curator
Read the curator’s text in spanish.
Biographies
César Foreo is a Canadian artist of Colombian origin, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) and member of the LGTBQIA2S+ community with training in architecture, sculpture, painting and public performance. He is a member and exhibition coordinator of the International Academy of Ceramics AIC/IAC. He holds an MFA from Minnesota State University and an MFA from the University of Waterloo, Ontario. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Temiskaming Art Gallery, the Society of Sculptors of Canada, the Ontario Society of Artists and the Contemporary Art Committee in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, of which he is the founder and current president.
His artwork and performances have been exhibited internationally, are in public and private collections, and have won national and international awards. His practice emphasizes social, humanitarian and environmental issues.
He is a curator and facilitator in several artistic organizations.
Julie René de Cotret is an independent Franco-Ontarian artist and curator. She received her Bachelor’s degree from NSCAD in 2004 and a Master’s degree in visual arts from the University of Toronto in 2018. She has exhibited in Canada, the United States, Korea, Greece, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and England. She co-founded the artist residency at the University of Guelph’s School of Environmental Sciences in 2009 and has served as an independent curator with that school since 2011. She served on the board of directors of Ed Video Media Arts Centre from 2006 to 2014 and is now on the board of directors of the Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario since 2016. René de Cotret is the recipient of a Chalmers artistic research grant.
This exhibition is part of the Connexions Visuelles program of the Ontario Arts Council in collaboration with the Temiskaming Art Gallery.
The Centre d’artistes Voix Visuelle would like to thank the Ontario Arts Council, Canadian Heritage, the City of Ottawa, AGAVF, Desjardins Ontario and Marcil Lavallée for their support.