Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain is pleased to present Ahchiouta'ah, an exhibition by Ludovic Boney featuring video works and installations combining dance, technology, and music. The exhibition extends the installation of the same name presented earlier this year at the Studio of the Grand Théâtre de Québec as part of Manif d'art 12 – La biennale de Québec, curated by Ariane Plante.
Some of the works presented at the Grand Théâtre are revisited here in a new context, while new works further enrich and expand the project. Conceived specifically for the gallery space, this new configuration continues a critical reflection on cultural métissage and the transformation of traditions.Ahchiouta'ah-which means "maternal grandmother" in Wendat-is also a tribute to the artist's grandmother and to the spirituality of the elder women of his community. This is Ludovic Boney's first video installation, featuring immersive technologies like holofan, and a unique collaboration with Eruoma Awashish, who created and performed the choreography.
"Like a ghostly apparition, the image of a dancing nun appears at random in the suspended space. She appears here, disappears there… elusive. Carried away by her trance, she blends pow-wow dances with music that brings together Indigenous and religious chants. Through sound effects that give the voice a distinctive texture, the soundtrack humorously evokes the vocal games we played as children, speaking close to a running fan!
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Ahchiouta'ah takes a critical yet humorous look at religious figures and what they signify for the Wendat community and for the artist. By bringing together this symbolism with technology, gesture, and music, the work becomes a reflection of cultural métissage whose imprint is indelible. Boney expresses a memory shaped by the transformation of traditions, whose evanescent traces continue to be passed on."
Excerpt from the text by curator Ariane Plante for Manif d'art 12 - La biennale de Québec.Translated from French. Read the full text here.
This project was produced with the support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Photo : Guillaume D. Cyr
Ludovic Boney was born in Wendake and lives and works in Lévis, Québec. He works on large-scale public art projects and shows his work regularly in galleries and artist centres throughout Quebec. His public art integration projects include works in Quebec City for the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the Musée de la civilisation, and City Hall. Among his notable public art projects are Des perles en mémoire, unveiled by the National Battlefields Commission on the occasion of the 2024 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and his sculpture In Equilibrium, installed at the Anishnawbe Indigenous Hub in Toronto. Ludovic regularly participates in renowned events such as the Bonavista Biennale, the Contemporary Native Art Biennale, the Manif d'art de Québec. The Huron-Wendat Museum presented his first museum solo exhibition entitled "Mémoires ennoyées" in 2022. Nominated for the long list of the Sobey Award in 2017, he is also the recipient of the Reveal grant offered by the Hnatyshyn Foundation. Currently, as part of Manif d'art, Ludovic Boney is presenting Ahchiouta’ah, a spectacular video installation unfolding in the StudioTelus space at the Grand Théâtre de Québec. Curated by Ariane Plante, this is Ludovic Boney’s first video installation, featuring immersive technologies like holofan, and a unique collaboration with Eruoma Awashish, who created and performed the choreography. Two works from the Mémoires ennoyées series are currently on view: at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, as part of the exhibition Rising Suns: Art from the Confederacies of the Great Lakes and Rivers, and at the Musée de la Côte-Nord.
"It is within the urban fabric that I draw my inspiration. Industrial mechanisms, as well as the sounds they produce, are both elements which I integrate as much into research, development of form, choice of materials, as into the elaboration of the concept itself.
I first break down the fundamental elements of my driving force into rich imagery. I alter the scale of these images and, attentive to the fruits of cross-breeding, I then construct a new shape. Therefore my work is a meeting of materials and methods. From this overlap emanates a strong and pulsating sense of unity.
The shapes that I create are voluminous, and their robustness is invariably contrasted by a troubling impression of precarious balance which incites questions from the spectator. Moreover, solid planes and faces give way to lines and gaps, signifying the creation of new spaces, both intimate and discrete.
Thus, the interiority of the sculpture gains more and more importance, perhaps even to the point of sowing confusion about the essence of the sculpture and its influence on that which surrounds it."
His practice, naturally formalist, assumes a discourse and a sense of belonging to his native culture. He is a multicultural artist from a hybrid culture. He combines a cultural tradition with a contemporary aesthetic, and is actively involved in reconciling Canadian and Indigenous culture.
