DE L'AVANT COMME AVANT

SIMON BILODEAU

DE L'AVANT COMME AVANT

  • Exposition
© Simon Bilodeau—Partial view of De l'avant comme avant exhibition—Photo : Jean-Michael Seminaro

Simon Bilodeau lives and works in Montréal. In 2013, he obtained a Master's degree in Visual and Media Arts from Université du Québec à Montréal. He has presented his work at Verticale (2008), Savannah College of Art and Design Museum of Art (Georgia, 2014), Circuit 12 Contemporary (Dallas, Texas), Maison de la culture du Plateau-Mont-Royal (2015) and Caravanserai (Rimouski, 2016). He is represented by Art Mûr in Montréal and by Circuit12 Contemporary.

 

 

15 octobre 2016 au 12 novembre 2016

Galerie B-312 is pleased to present Simon Bilodeau's most recent exhibition in its main room, De l’avant comme avant. The artist was interested in the history of the Belgo building, its various functions and transformations - from a department store making catalog sales at the beginning of the 20th century, to the establishment of fabric factories and furs, until the arrival of artists then galleries in the 80s - to recreate a fictitious space where different temporalities and allocations seem to overlap. Luxurious apartment, showroom, artist-run centre, gallery? The artist plays with this ambiguity. If column, concrete wall and black marble make a direct recall to the architectural elements of the building, the reflection of Simon Bilodeau goes beyond these simple winks to dwell on the question of the movement of places of creation, dissemination and consumption of art. Many artists' studios, galleries and artist-run centres have taken their place in the vestiges of the textile sector when it moved to developing countries. These places, once reinvested, regain prestige, their values ​​increase, developers are interested again and places of creation and dissemination of art are in turn threatened. De l’avant comme avant, is the release of uncertainties and fears of Simon Bilodeau in the face of progress, our way of consuming and producing: always more, always faster even if it can have disastrous consequences. Simon Bilodeau has built a refined staging around these issues, where the works question more than providing answers. De l’avant comme avant provokes reflection, but we must look elsewhere for the path to follow.