Arthur Desmarteaux & Allison Moore, Micropolis (detail),
screen & digital prints on cardboard, 112 x 427 cm, 2010.
January 12- February 18, 2012
Opening: Thursday, January 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Artists will be present at opening
Open Studio Gallery
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 104
Toronto ON, M5V 3A8
T: 416.504.8238
E: sara@openstudio.on.ca
http://www.openstudio.on.ca
Open Studio is pleased to present Micropolis 2.0, an exhibition by Montréal-based collaborators Arthur Desmarteaux and Allison Moore from January 12 February 18, 2012. The exhibition is accompanied by a text by Banff-based artist and writer Lisa Borin.
Arthur Desmarteaux and Allison Moore’s Micropolis is an ever-expanding and evolving installation comprised of collaged screen and digital prints, assembled so they evoke a busy modern commercial street with pedestrians,
creatures and vehicles passing by. The installation has an anthropological character inspired by the cityscapes of Québec City, Montréal and Toronto. The installation is “2.5D” or two-and-a-half dimensions- a modular diorama of cardboard figures and shapes placed at different levels on wooden shelves, covering the perimeter of the gallery walls, including printed elements hanging from the ceiling and the bottom of the shelves. This eclectic installation also includes sections of woodcuts and LCD video screens in the “building windows” showing animated loops and an accompanying soundtrack. The installation explores urban life and the relationships between people and large cities. The enchanted universe presented by Desmarteaux and Moore conveys a sense of wonder, awe and contemplation. Looking though the microscope, viewers are drawn in, entering a strange theatrical dimension that evokes a childhood world filled with twisted dreams and figures.
Arthur Desmarteaux obtained a degree in Visual Arts at the University of Montreal and UQAM in 2003. He is an active member of Ateliers Graff in Montreal and has exhibited his work internationally as an invited artist to
contemporary printmaking biennales in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec; Guanlan, China; Italy, Denmark and Sorcelles, France and has participated in residencies at Martha Street Print Studios in Winnipeg, Queen Street Studios in Belfast, and Engramme in Quebec City. He is a member of the Association of Puppeteers of Quebec [AQM]. He is represented by La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa.
Allison Moore is an artist, educator and cultural operator. Based in Montreal, she has produced projects in Ecuador, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Europe. She achieved a BFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at Concordia University in 2005. She is an active member of Ateliers Graff and has developed new projects in video, animation and interactive computing as an invited artist at Studio XX, Oboro New Media Labs and the Society of Arts and Technology in Montreal.
Together, Moore and Desmarteaux co-founded Egotrip Productions, collaborating together since 2006.
To download a copy of the essay, including full artist and author biographies, visit http://www.openstudio.on.ca/