In 1993, the Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec operated a gallery—located in Old Montreal’s Bonsecours Market—devoted entirely to the promotion of contemporary crafts. At that time, the new Galerie des métiers d’art du Québec was replacing the Galerie Design métiers d’art du Québec, where many exhibits had taken place between 1983 and 1989. Afterwards, the gallery became what is now the Boutique des métiers d’art du Québec. From its inception until 2006, the Galerie des métiers d’art du Québec has displayed the work of over 200 Quebec artists, either within its own walls or as part of prestigious events taking place in Europe (Paris, Brussels) and the United States (New York, Chicago, Washington, Denver, Fort Worth, Kansas City, Columbus, Charlotte, Corning, Tampa, West Palm Beach), thereby attaining its reputation as the only international major Quebec gallery in the field of contemporary crafts. In 2006, the Galerie des métiers d’art du Québec underwent a restructuring process and thoroughly revised its operations. It adopted a new name that more accurately reflects its mission: the CREA Gallery — Contemporary Fine Craft. Although it has given up its permanent location for the moment, the Gallery still plays a leading role in the promotion and distribution of expressive works within Quebec and elsewhere, constantly developing its client base and enhancing the most prestigious collections. The Conseil des métiers d’art is currently seeking funding to relocate the Gallery. This will allow it to continue introducing Montrealers to contemporary crafts and to fully accomplish its mission. Marché Bonsecours 350, rue Saint-Paul Est, bureau 400 Montréal (Québec) H2Y 1H2 Telephone: 514 878-2787, ext. 316 Fax: 514 861-9191 E-mail: crea@creagallery.com
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Press Release Artistic Vision at SOFA Chicago 2012 Planned Display at SOFA Chicago 2012
ARTISTS OF SOFA CHICAGO 2012 8 Jessica Beauchemin, wood sculptor 9 Marie-Pierre Daigle, glass and fibre artist 10 Sébastien Duchange, glass artist 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 FOR MORE INFORMATION Lilian M Raji The Lilian Raji Agency (646) 789-4427 ext 701 lilian@lmrpr.com
Cédric Ginart, glass artist David Goranitis, glass artist Kino Guérin, wood designer Karina Guévin, glass artist Michèle Lapointe, glass artist Julie Lavoie, ceramist Lynn Légaré, jeweller Louise Lemieux-Bérubé, fibre artist Marie-Ève Martin, sculptural jeweller Gilles Payette, glass artist Claudio Pino, sculptural jeweller Stephen Pon, glass artist Claude Prairie, ceramist Sophie-Kimberly Séguin-Lalonde, glass artist Luci Veilleux, jeweller
PRESS RELEASE CREA Gallery – Contemporary Fine Craft at the 2012 SOFA Chicago Exposition 18 Quebec Artists Exhibit Contemporary Fine Crafts November 2nd - 4th, Opening Night Preview Thursday, November 1st in Chicago, Illinois Montreal, Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012 – The CREA Gallery – Contemporary Fine Craft will exhibit at the 19th annual Sculptural Objects and Functional Art + Design (SOFA) Chicago exposition presented by The Art Fair Company, November 2nd through 4th, in Navy Pier’s Festival Hall in Chicago, Illinois. CREA is proud to showcase 18 of the most innovative Quebec artists representing current art and design trends throughout Quebec. Each year, the exposition attracts and captivates numerous collectors, associations, curators, gallerists, designers and art aficionados throughout the world. SOFA is renowned for gallery presented masterworks of contemporary and modern art and design works, as well as special events and a lecture series allowing access to a current and internationally recognized art community. Also, special events will mark the 50th anniversary of Studio Glass Movement. Among some of the major works presented by CREA Artists are: Anakena, 2012, from glass artist, Stephen Pon, an 8’ long kiln cast and blown glass sculpture, delicate yet imposing this technical achievement is a first of the artist’s gondola series; Michèle Lapointe’s serie - Lizzie, Evelyn, Xie and Irene, 2012, composed of glass incorporated with photos and found objects is a continuation of the artist’s 2006 research. The artist presents a critical voyage into the imaginary world of children’s fairy tales, memory and the unheard obstructed by glass’ omnipresence and distorting properties; Finally, glass artist Gilles Payette’s series Cabelus, is his most recent exploration, the artist has employed his knowledge and technical skills in wood working, metal and glass to create reflective works and inspired through personal relationships. These works reference Quebec’s Studio Glass Movement and its emblematic figure, François Houdé (1950 – 1993).. The CREA Gallery – Contemporary Fine Craft has as its mandate to support, exhibit and develop artistic creation of Quebec artists, not only within the province, but nationwide and throughout the international scene. The CREA Gallery is one the most important organizations to diffuse Quebec contemporary fine craft. The Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. at the Bonsecours Market, 350 St. Paul Street East, Montreal (Quebec) H2Y 1H2.
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Acknowledgements The CREA Gallery – Contemporary Fine Craft is a non-profit organization supported by the Quebec Crafts Council and benefits from financial assistance from the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles. The Gallery is grateful for all their assistance.
Artist Jessica Beauchemin
Artistic vision at SOFA Chicago 2012: CREA Gallery – Contemporary Fine Craft has recently undergone an artistic and administrative restructuring in hopes of better respecting its initial mandate and vision, established by the Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec in the late 1970s. This mandate was to support and diffuse contemporary fine craft works by Quebec emerging and established artists nationally and internationally. In 2012, CREA Gallery moves forward with a fresh start and artistic direction. Capitalizing on the aesthetic changes at CREA Gallery’s 15th year at SOFA Chicago 2012, CREA Gallery will present 17 artists whose works will provide an overall understanding of Quebec contemporary fine crafts and the truly unique and innovative artworks and crafts persons of Northern America. Presented this year are some of Quebec’s most sought after and respected technicians as well as several emerging artists who are now following their mentors or professors by presenting works that rival their label as ‘emerging talents.’ The gallery is proud to participate in this year’s SOFA Chicago 2012 exhibition. It is with great excitement that a Quebec gallery and Quebecois artists mingle alongside icons of the art and design field.
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Planned display at SOFA Chicago 2012: CREA Gallery hopes to have a linear booth rather than its traditional cubical booth design. With so many more artists, almost twice as much as last year and numerous disciplines presented, our challenge is to obtain a coherent display of the works---many of which are wall-mounted pieces and one an 8ft gondola by the glass artist Stephen Pon. The booth itself will include sufficient wall space. It is certain the booth display will be vibrant and youth filled with colourful works that are technically and aesthetically inquisitive. The primary focus of the display is to allow and facilitate a linear lecture of the works presented while engaging the public.
Artist Gilles Payette
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Artist Sebastien Duchange
The CREA Gallery – Contemporary Fine Craft is a non-profit organization dedicated to the education, support, promotion and diffusion of Quebec contemporary fine crafts. Indisputably, one of the most important institutions in the field of Quebec contemporary fine crafts, the gallery represents and supports several emerging and established artists of various mediums through initiatives such as exhibitions, international art and design fairs and commercial proposals in Montreal and abroad. Today, the CREA Gallery contributes significantly to the development and influence of Quebec contemporary fine crafts in hopes to increase artists’ and crafts notoriety beyond our borders. The CREA Gallery – Contemporary Fine Craft is a semi-autonomous institution whose mandate and vision reflects that of its parent affiliation the Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec.
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Jessica Beauchemin
I strive to explore fine woodworking, to develop a personal approach that will enhance the riches and nuances of the matter. Hair ornaments are the medium through which I explore. Mythical, symbolical and sensual objects, hair combs and pins offer a vast array of conceptual, aesthetic and technical possibilities. Thus, I try to divert matter, to twist and morph it, to give it lightness, finesse and sensuality. Inspired by different eras and cultures, my pieces are at the crossroads between “here” and “elsewhere”. -- Jessica Beauchemin
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Marie-Pierre Daigle Marie Pierre Daigle has evolved in the artistic field in Quebec for many years. In 2000, following her studies in Fine Arts at CeĚ gep du Vieux Montreal, Daigle decided to pursue a career in Arts & Crafts, specifically in glass at Espace VERRE, in Montreal. This confrontation with matter is an important milestone in this young artist’s career. In 2004, she enriched her artistic vocabulary by joining the Montreal Centre for Contemporary Textiles, where she completed her training in textile creation. This multidisciplinary artist uses glass and textile to create unique sculptures. With these materials, combined, mixed and crossed through her artisitic vision, she explores curved universes of the porous and fertile borders. Marie Pierre Daigle speaks about life: the life to be lived, the life to be given, the life to be shared.
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Sébastien Duchange
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As an artist, Sebastien Duchange observes and continuously questions the society of which he is part of. These actions necessitate a critical eye since much of what one interprets is done so in a perpetual state of disillusion. Consequently, Duchange is conscious of the political, social, or ecological perceptions within a world wherein the real and the imaginary co-exist. His critical interpretations are conceived in an ironic manner, narrative in nature and which illustrate the figurative or the allegorical such as the caricature. His concern is to expose the tension and various interrogations that exist within one’s universal representation by employing visual language that is at times naïve or humanistic. The artist exhibits a strong interest in the ambivalence that exists between reality and fiction, he uses notions such as accumulation, contradiction and juxtaposition of various canons found in satire, icons, pictograms or cultural symbols which are representative of those found within one’s consciousness. In order to illustrate his expressions, Duchange uses glass and its endless means as a sculptural medium. He is guided in his creative endeavour by way of the many characteristics that glass embodies as a result of its movement, like shadow, light, transparency, opaqueness and fragility. In the end, his pieces are not only visual representations of numerous metaphors or universal concepts but inadvertently prove to be an aesthetic equilibrium between the visual and the emotional.
Cédric Ginart
Glass has been a fascinating material for millennia. It offers infinite transformative and creative possibilities. My work as a glassblower has allowed me to meet and work with passionate, fascinating people. It’s allowed me to work with scientists, artists and designers on unique and captivating projects. Working with glass is akin to traveling through time and history. It’s also the possibility to discover something new every moment, an endless journey of apprenticeship! I want my creations to be full of poetry and mystery, to speak about the world surrounding us, a rich world, full of thrills, in which art and science come together. ---Cédric Ginart
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David Goranitis
David Goranitis was born to a Czech mother and a Greek father. To make ends meet and to finance his art, he currently works a truly dangerous trade, behind a garbage truck in trash removal. However, David is also pursuing his art and teaches glass blowing. David believes it is important and socially responsible to be involved in society for the common good. This is why he chose to study art education, a manner in which humanity is developed. The artist chose glass as his primary artistic medium to nurture his Bohemian roots. Bohemian glass is recognized by its classical shapes and refined wheel engravings and luster enamels. Yet by engraving his drawings inspired by Greek mythology and personal history on the surface of these vessels, he confers them a contemporary aspect.
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Hence, the artist creates works of art combining his incomparable skills in the arts and crafts of glass and his depiction and reinterpretation of Greek mythology and personal history through his drawings. This combination of technical skills and artistic expression make his pieces truly unique.
Kino Guérin
“I like challenges. I gave myself one a few years ago, one that would become my leitmotiv:From now on, I would make furniture with a unique piece of wood, no legs, no crossbars or supports. Of course, there is not only one piece but several very thin layers glued one over the other so as to be able to bend the whole piece. To simplify, let’s take a wooden panel; it makes an excellent top for a table but for the legs, one must bend the extremities until they reach the floor. This is the base, but it must also look very nice, original and be punchy. To get this overall effect, the panel must be bent further in order to obtain an airy movement, as if this had been done naturally. It must reflect equilibrium between the curve and the straight line, between exuberance and purity. The whole essence of this aesthetic approach can thus be captured at a glance and let one speechless at the sight of this splendid beauty, requiring no props or devices. It is my definition of perfection. I gave myself heart and soul in this approach, that I have made mine, and it is now my guidance. With it, I doubt no more. ---Kino Guérin
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Karina GuĂŠvin
The work of Karina GuĂŠvin celebrates the femininity, sensuality, and passion. GuĂŠvin has chosen to work with glass body ornaments as this one theme is incredibly rich in compositions and contrasts. She creates without limits, objects where the detail is worked in an excessive way and where colours are acting as painting on a canvas. Her creations are sculptural and versatile, from a necklace when worn, to a sculptural piece when placed on a vase or hand on a wall. Their colours and forms are anything but little miracles that seduce the viewer.
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Michèle Lapointe
Michèle Lapointe strives to create works to fit into the environments which serve as their inspiration.
For each exhibition, Lapointe takes the time to savour and immerse herself in the environment where her work will be located. Like an ‘imaginary archaeologist’ combing through dreams and time, she wanders through the site for many hours observing shapes, colors, vegetation and texture. She follows the light that is cast on and reflected by the architecture and topography, looking for details that attract her attention. She also peruses historical, environmental or literary texts, which inspire her dreams. Michèle Lapointe is a distinguished Quebec sculptor and glassworker specializing in monumental pieces, meant to complement and be integrated into architectural environments. Her works can be found in public places and institutional buildings across Quebec and Ontario. She has exhibited in the United States (Palm Beach, New York), France, Holland and throughout Canada. One of her creations is now part of the Musée du verre de Sars-Poteries’ permanent collection.
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Julie Lavoie My inspiration regarding my sculptural work is found in nature. Specifically, the trees and vegetation found in harsh lands. The entirety of such details found in these particular environments is what makes me echo.
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What appears to be fragile, delicate, precarious juxtaposed by the hostile elements, which are imposing and non-wavering are dualities I seek to explore. However, it is not only these dichotomies, but the notions of alliance and harmony that resides within these opposite poles that guides my ceramic creations and overall aesthetic. ---Julie Lavoie
Lynn LĂŠgarĂŠ Driven by the desire to create instinctively, Lynn LegarĂŠ shapes fragments of jewels that form the actual base of her pieces. This technique allows her to fashion, through improvisation, part of the piece of jewellery that she then completes by patiently adding to it. Regardless of whether or not a specific theme underlies the piece, she interprets, contrasts and establishes the interplay of shapes and material. Thus, she strives to challenge the feeling of fragility and immutability and approach the limits of balance, connecting with the human race at the same time.
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Louise Lemieux-Bérubé
Artists and their work greatly fascinate Louise Lemieux Bérubé. Being tightly involved in different artistic institutions and associations Lemieux Bérubé’s mission is to support and help artists develop their potential. She’s had opportunities to meet artists from all fields: dancers, painters, writers, photographers, directors, sculptors, multimedia artists, musicians, and many others. Her involvement and her encounters have largely influenced her own artiste practice. Lemieux Bérubé focuses her research on the movements of dancers by translating them into out-of-focus weaves to accentuate the movement. She loves introducing sequences of images of the same choreographer in order to accentuate movement, rhythm, as when looking at a movie reel. To make her work even more dynamic, Louise Lemieux Bérubé incorporates within her woven images steel and copper wires, allowing her to give a third dimension to her work.
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Marie-Ăˆve Martin My jewelry is initially composed of simple and clean shapes. In the center I incorporate animated scenery, sometimes abstract and at times figurative. The narrative implies a story that the viewer is free to interpret as he or she wishes. ---Marie-Ăˆve Martin
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Gilles Payette
Casting glass in sand mold for large sculptural pieces is the way to experiment and create his one soul. Like the musician with his instruments, Gilles Payette plays with sand to create a mold where the glass can manifest and give concrete expression of his mind. The final touch is done at the end, after a full polishing. Payette puts the piece on a steel base, wood post, or on the wall. Through the glass, he tries to give the impression of lightness - sacred and witty.
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Claudio Pino Claudio Pino is a Jewellery designer world renowned especially for his unique sculptural rings. The combination of colors is the source of all Pino’s designs. He is passionate about gemstones and fascinated by their properties. Pino juxtaposes cold silver to warm gold, calm green emeralds to vivid red rubies, to the freshness of white fresh water pearls. In his design, Claudio Pino searches for originality and integrity of expression while exploring new forms of communication in jewelry. All his collections bear witness to the historical grandeur of jewelry making, while being animated by contemporary tones
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Stephen Pon
Through my work, produced using a combination of glasswork techniques, I depict travellers whose instincts guide them toward my imaginary vessels. My ancestors inspire me, and, in remembrance of their labours, their art, their faith, I am attempting to use magic to reveal a secret, inexplicable place. The duality of my characters, depicted in black and white, recalls, in a general way, the duality of shadow and light, day and night.
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---Stephen Pon
Claude Prairie
Certain objects tend to present themselves as being generically identical but, upon closer examination, in fact show the differences between the one and the many; this idea of individuality is intensified through the modelling of volume, surface, and colour. Other objects emerge through the assemblage of two elements, where each element maintains its identity but without being indifferent to the presence of its similar or corresponding other, through which it is ultimately complemented or completed. Angular and modelled facets oppose or link up with one another, further uniting the elements. Through the interplay of montage or positioning, one grasps the diverse variations possible. In some instances, the emphasis is placed on exaggeration or absence; at times, it is on the actual displacement of certain of the vessel’s attributes, as with the choice of where to position the foot or the neck relative to the object. ---Claude Prairie
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Sophie-Kimberly Séguin-Lalonde Sophie-Kimberly Séguin-Lalonde is a young emerging artist in the field of glass art. She studied scenography before choosing the field of glass and art. She graduated from the school Espace Verre affiliated with the Cégep du Vieux-Montreal in May, 2010.
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Séguin-Lalonde specialized in glass blowing and in thermoforming during these studies, but she is also interested in other materials such as fibers, ceramic, hair and screenprinting, a techniaue she acquired studying in Fine arts(School of Fine Arts) at the University Concordia. She has participated in several group exhibitions and some contests. She is currently part of the transition Fusion workshop (studio) at Espace Verre.
Luci Veilleux
Luci Veilleux becomes one with her material during the transformation process, from which creativity emerges.
The inspiration provided by the movement, gesture, sensation and exploration of a medium in the process of transformation has led her to focus on structured gestures that are unique to her. The definition of unusual shapes and structure of a given gesture enable her to create her own language, and express her ideas and poetry through the objects she produces.
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Artist Claudio Pino
Marché Bonsecours 350, rue Saint-Paul Est, bureau 400 Montréal (Québec) H2Y 1H2 Telephone: 514 878-2787, ext. 316 Fax: 514 861-9191 E-mail: crea@creagallery.com