alain-martin richard | surgir

opening reception 5 may > 5pm
at 174 elgin, sudbury

With landscape as its theme, SURGIR relates natural and industrial landscapes with what I call the "human landscape". The background is industry, mines, the outdoors and the city, and as a counterpoint, inlayed into these images, is the space of intimacy.

This installation offers a poetic perception of our insertion into the landscape as a whole, our physical, social and economic environment. What bridges the hiatus between private desires and the metamorphoses forced upon "residual landscapes"? Here is where can arise the smell of a horse, the folds of a morel, a glint of tinted glass, an incensed Buddha, a figurine of a child, a splash in a hot tub, the foot of a table, a keyboard, a porcelain ballerina…

Alain-Martin Richard lives and works in Quebec City. As a performance and "manoeuvre" artist, he has presented works in North America, Europe and Asia. In parallel to his artistic work, he has worked as a curator, a critic and an essayist, having published many articles dealing with theatre, performance, installation and "manoeuvre". He was a member of the former collectives Inter/LeLieu and The Nomads and he is currently active with Les Causes perdues and Folie/Culture. His productions, like "L'atopie textuelle" (2000) and "Le chemin vers Rosa" (2006), are often deployed over many levels of reality.

His latest productions are based on a local community and always incorporate singular aspects of what he calls the "human landscape". Time and again, it is well worth exploring how these two landscapes can intersect and coexist.

This exhibition is sponsored by Over the Atlantic and Donald P. Kuyek Barrister & Solicitor. Our season sponsors are, CBON, la Première Chaîne, Espace musique and Radio-Canada Television | Internet.