A travelling exhibition of 1960s Québec art featuring many of that province’s top artistic talents will open in Gallery 1C03 on Thursday, March 4 from 4 – 6 p.m. Titled Explosion of Forms and Textures: Art of the 1960s from the Bas-Saint-Laurent Museum’s Collection, this bilingual exhibition includes paintings, prints and sculptures by Marcelle Ferron, Fernand Leduc, Claude Tousignant, Albert Dumouchel, Alfred Pellan, Armand Vaillancourt and others. The show will remain on display until March 27.
Organized by the Bas-Saint-Laurent Museum in Rivière-du-Loup, Québec, Explosion of Forms and Textures reveals that the 1960s were “a key transitional period in Québec culture, built on the artistic values of the 1950s to introduce a new artistic vision that was resolutely contemporary.” Several important movements are represented: the Surrealists, working under the name Prisme d’Yeux, were led by Alfred Pellan; women like Marcelle Ferron were important leaders among the Automatistes, known by the passionate impasto of their abstract canvases; and Fernand Leduc, a member of the Plasticiens, has gained recognition for his geometric constructions.
In addition to the variety of forms and textures, another noteworthy aspect of this show involves the use of materials. While many artists continued to employ time-honoured media such as oils for paintings and wood, stone or metal for sculpture, new media like acrylic paints, plastics and other petroleum derivatives became commonplace. A highlight of the Winnipeg presentation of Explosion of Forms and Textures is sculptor Jean Noël’s Oeuf expansif orange, which is made of Plexiglas and includes lights that blink on and off as a response to industrial developments of the era.
The financial assistance of Canadian Heritage/Patrimoine Canadien and the Manitoba Arts Council/Conseil des Arts du Manitoba is gratefully acknowledged.
For further information, please contact Acting Art Curator Jennifer Gibson at 204.786.9253. or j.gibson@uwinnipeg.ca.