Alternate Realities - Selection of Works from the Collection - Fall 2019
Group Exhibition
Faig Ahmed
Nicolas Baier
Genesis Belanger
Graham Caldwell
Cynthia Daignault
John De Andrea
Ryan Gander
Dorian Fitzgerald
Sayre Gomez
Thomas Houseago
Anish Kapoor
Wanda Koop
Oliver Laric
Caroline Mesquita
Laure Prouvost
Anselm Kiefer
Ugo Rondinone
Kathleen Ryan
Emily Mae Smith
Josh Sperling
Claire Tabouret
Amalia Ulman
Xu Zhen
Thomas Houseago, Standing Owl 1, 2012, Bronze, black patina, 94 ¼" x 50" x 36" (239,4 x 127 x 91,4 cm) (Detail)
This fall, Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal presents a selection of works from its collection under the theme Alternate Realities. At a time where the virtual collides with the real world, reality multiplies itself. In a world of accelerated mediatization where images are everflowing, the truth becomes increasingly hard to decipher.
The work of art is the perfect exemplification of a derivation of reality and a presentation of the infinite possibilities of the imaginary. Closely linked to the idea of illusion, works of art play with concrete reality, punctuating it with contrasts and asymmetries which act as layers of experience making up the fabric of our existence. In his time, Plato had already linked the concept of illusion to art by calling out its insidious ability to deceive man. Serving us an altered conception of reality, art would keep us from accessing reality, thus preventing us from understanding and engaging with the real world in order to behave well in society. But aren’t artworks rather microcosms of alternate realities allowing us to better grasp our own reality?
Faig Ahmed Dorian FitzGerald Wanda Koop Emily Mae Smith Nicolas Baier Ryan Gander Oliver Laric Josh Sperling Genesis Belanger Sayre Gomez Caroline Mesquita Claire Tabouret Graham Caldwell Thomas Houseago Laure Prouvost Amalia Ulman Cynthia Daignault Anish Kapoor Ugo Rondinone Xu Zhen John De Andrea Anselm Kiefer Kathleen Ryan Thomas Houseago, Standing Owl 1, 2012, Bronze, black patina, 94 1/4" x 50" x 36" (239,4 x 127 x 91,4 cm) (Detail) Alternate Realities is an opportunity to sharpen our eyes by challenging them with a selection of artworks opening a reflection on what is real, as well as the many ways of processing and representing reality