Pierre François Ouellette art contemporain is pleased to present an installation and photographs entitled “Écran” by Marc Audette. In this exhibition, the artist explores the surfaces that mediate images.
“Écran” presents large photographs that cover the walls of the gallery. Obvious traces of pixels on these photographs indicate that a digital video projector was used during their production in the dark room. In addition, some of the photographs are transformed into projection screens, a play on the way in which technology creates an effect of mise en abyme. Seen as a whole, the work suggests distinct constellations of figures and celestial phenomena.
Marc Audette states:
“No photograph can assert to claim what Roland Barthe called “la noèse” because a photograph is no longer an infallible witness of what has taken place in front of the camera. Thanks to software that can break down an image into units called pixels, all manner of artifice, and all fantasies are possible. And with a modicum of techne, the end result can be remarkable.
The ability to transform a photographic image and to hide these transformations in a seamless way creates doubt and confusion. Not only is the photograph changed, but all the imaginary rules for interpreting images are overthrown as well. I am interested in the impact of this technology, not only for the change that it creates on the image itself, but for the changes that it provokes in our imaginary universe, where memories, emotions and feeling lay.”
Large-format cibachromes from the series “ L’intuition d’Ovide” (1994-95) are on view in the second room of the gallery.
Marc Audette obtained a Master of Fine Arts from York University, Toronto, where he currently teaches. Since 1986, his works have been presented in solo and group exhibitions, notably in Toronto, Montréal, Hull, Banff as well as in France.
Articles:
- Lehmann, Henry. Chronique dans Books and Visual Arts. The Gazette, Montréal, 9 février 2002. P. K2.
- Zimmermann Brendel, Maria. Marc Audette, Écran. CVphoto, no57, 2002. P. 30.
- Été 2002 CV Photo n0 57 Écran par Maria Zimmerman Brendel
- Printemps 2002 ETC Montréal n0 58 La photographie éclatée Denis Longchamps