Eastside Westside
"Eastside Westside" by Christina Bagatavicius, Canadian Art, Winter 2008
A new generation of Quebec artists is producing work that is experimental, fresh and sophisticated. Last summer’s Québec Triennial met with a frisson of excitement: it showed how a provincial exhibition could not only live up to the demands of a wider global context, but also pay homage to a delightfully eclectic scene. The inaugural triennial energized the arts community, prompting national newspapers to ask, “Has Montreal become the new Vancouver?” While regional rivalries overlook the sense of internationalism that frames contemporary art practice, they do draw attention to significant changes in the scene. As the established art dealer René Blouin asserts, “There is something going on in Montreal that is stimulating and encouraging. The city has a buoyant art scene and at the moment many young Canadians are building their reputations here.”
Even though Montreal is renowned for its cosmopolitan flair, there have been difficult periods in the past when the French/English cultural split has come across as insular and parochial. In recent years, however, the city has been pervaded by a new-found confidence and a growing sense of ambition. Leading this fruitful synergy are Montreal’s pre-eminent university programs in the visual arts—at l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and Concordia University. These schools are at the forefront of a shift in mindset, and have received much credit for their role in the Québec Triennial’s success.
Both schools are nurturing the talent at the heart of a budding arts scene. Of the 38 artists selected to participate in the Québec Triennial, 25 are affiliated with one or the other university. David Altmejd, Raphaëlle de Groot and Gwenaël Bélanger are products of UQAM’s program. Adad Hannah, Nicolas Baier, Carlos and Jason Sanchez and Karen Tam developed their skills at Concordia. The work produced by Michel de Broin, Patrick Coutu and Manon De Pauw reflects these artists’ experience studying at both institutions. Even artists whose exclusion from the exhibition raised eyebrows—Pascal Grandmaison, Geneviève Cadieux, Jean-Pierre Gauthier and Alexandre Castonguay, to name a few—either graduated from these schools or are teaching there.
Higher education is not the only reason Montreal’s cultural reach has grown in recent years; a number of factors have contributed to the art community’s momentum. A younger generation of art dealers, including Pierre-François Ouellette and Donald Browne, has settled in, and Marc Mayer was appointed director of the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in 2004 and has emphasized new art in its programming. As well, the city hosts a string of vibrant festivals that generate unexpected opportunities for hybrid cultural collaboration. For instance, the 2008 Festival TransAmériques saw the choreographer Paul-André Fortier join forces with the multidisciplinary artist Rober Racine and the filmmaker Robert Morin. While the city’s manifold nonprofit galleries and artist-run centres have had a long-standing presence, they continue to be a powerful outlet for fresh talent.
The influence of UQAM and Concordia is also nothing new: they were among the first universities in Canada to offer master’s degrees in art. François Morelli, an artist and director of the Studio Arts M.F.A. program at Concordia, recalls that the university’s program was launched in 1972: “It was one of the only places offering an M.F.A. and it grew into a model for other Canadian schools. Concordia set the pace by graduating an early generation of Canadian Masters of Fine Arts.” At UQAM, the Fine Arts department was part of the university when it was founded in 1969. Its M.F.A. program was developed in 1977 by a group of professors who had taught at L’École des beaux-arts de Montréal. Both programs were decisively restructured during the 1990s and began to transform into the institutions that we recognize today.
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