{"id":7596,"date":"2012-02-16T10:47:09","date_gmt":"2012-02-16T15:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=7596"},"modified":"2012-03-25T10:59:45","modified_gmt":"2012-03-25T14:59:45","slug":"eliane-excoffier-series-1996-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/?p=7596","title":{"rendered":"\u00c9liane Excoffier Series 1996-2011"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Obscures (s\u00e9rie no. 2) \u2013 01, 2006Copyright:\u00a9 \u00c9liane Excoffier \/ Courtesy of Stephen Bulger Gallery<\/p>\n

February 25 \u2013\u00a0March 24, 2012<\/strong>
\nOpening: Friday, February 25, 5\u20139 p.m.
\nSTEPHEN BULGER GALLERY<\/strong>
\n1026 Queen Street West
\nToronto, Ontario M6J 1H6
\nT: 416.504.0575
\nE: info@bulgergallery.com<\/a>
\nwww.bulgergallery.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>
\nHours: Tues \u2013 Sat\u00a0 11\u20136 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The gallery is pleased to present our second solo exhibition of photographs by \u00c9liane Excoffier, which will feature an overview of her work to date. The exhibition will coincide with the launch of her new catalogue \u00c9liane Excoffier: bilan 1996\u20132008, <\/span><\/em>copublished <\/span><\/span>by the Mus\u00e9e r\u00e9gional de Rimouski, Galerie Simon Blais and Stephen Bulger Gallery, and featuring an essay by Bernard Lamarche.<\/p>\n

Over the course of her photographic career, Excoffier has focused on exploring the dark and physical links that bind the history of photography and its techniques with the representation of the female body. In her first series, Rituels <\/span><\/strong>(1996), Excoffier\u2019s <\/span><\/span>depiction of the body considers the model against which women judge themselves. Often anorexic in form, the moving and ghostly figures blend with their environment as a means of making their disappearance visible.<\/p>\n

Excoffier\u2019s second series, Dualit\u00e9<\/strong> (1997)\u00a0and her interest in the history of photography and how it informs interpretations of the female body. Reminiscent of Muybridge\u2019s female figure studies in motion, Dualit\u00e9 <\/span><\/strong>was also created in reaction to <\/span><\/span>Lexique de beaut\u00e9 by Cludette de Seves in 1935, which imparted the rules that women should abide by to maintain their beauty. Excoffier superimposes negatives to create dual image that illustrates the struggle between women\u2019s personal aspirations and society\u2019s expectations. In 1999, Excoffier continued her investigation into the rules of beauty in Petit lexique de beaute<\/strong>.\u00a0In this series, her female subjects perform similar gestures to those in Dualit\u00e9<\/span><\/strong>, but <\/span><\/span>through the process of overprinting the effect of blurring, Excoffier undermines the appeal of traditional beauty.<\/p>\n

Obscures<\/strong> (2004) is influenced by historical erotic photographs and also marks the beginning of Excoffier\u2019s experimentation with historical techniques. Using a pinhole camera, Excoffier creates dramatic and crude images of the female body that imply an element of mystery; a fleeting and accidental moment captured for the voyeur\u2019s gaze. In Obscures (s\u00e9rie no. 2),<\/strong> she continues this exploration wirh a larger format Kodak Camera from 1914 and both film and paper negatives. The film negatives allow a more defined image, while the paper negatives have a richer tonality of imprecise details. Both invite the voyeur\u2019s gaze without satisfying it.<\/p>\n

The exhibition will also include work from her most recent series, Chambres (et autres histoires photographiques,<\/strong> 2011) which gives pride of place to objects and challenges. Excoffier by working outside of a studio setting for the first time. All small in size, the works, like those preceding it, evoke narratives tinged with an implicit mystery.<\/p>\n

Excoffier (b. St. J\u00e9r\u00f4me, Qu\u00e9bec, 1971) lives and works in Montr\u00e9al. She graduated with a degree in Visual Arts and Art History from the University of Montr\u00e9al in 1996. Her work can be found in the collections of Mus\u00e9e des Beaux-Arts de Montr\u00e9al, Montr\u00e9al; Banque Nationale, Montr\u00e9al; Loto-Qu\u00e9bec, Montr\u00e9al; Giverny Capital, Montr\u00e9al; Fondation MontMartFund, Paris; Pr\u00eats d’oeuvres d’art du Mus\u00e9e National des Beaux-Arts u Qu\u00e9bec, Qu\u00e9bec; amongst others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 25 \u2013 March 24, 2012<\/strong>
\nOpening: Friday, February 25, 5\u20139 p.m.<\/p>\n

STEPHEN BULGER GALLERY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Excoffier has focused on exploring the dark and physical links that bind the history of photography and its techniques with the representation of the female body.<\/p>\n

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