A MATTER OF ABSTRACTION

While in Montréal for a wedding we visited the MAC (Museé D'art Contemporain de Montréal) with high hopes.  Our wishes were gratified by the poignant video installation Citizen Band by Angelica Mesiti.  In one portion, an Algerian man sings rai music on a Paris subway surrounded by indifferent passengers.  His performance is heartbreakingly beautiful as are the other three pieces, each in an indigenous music tradition, presented by an artist who has been displaced from their culture.

Citizen Band runs until September 7, 2014

Down the hall was the less cohesive exhibition A Matter of Abstraction, pictured here.  This show has been on for over two years, set to close in September.  Perhaps this extended run caused the curators to overpack the space.  Presenting abstract work from 1939 to the present, the exhibition seeks to illustrate the relationship between Quebec artists and their international contemporaries. Although many of the works were interesting, the cluttered curation and strange colour choices for walls and plinths, made the space look more like the home of an overzealous collector than a contemporary gallery.  That said, we like to sift though homes of overzealous collectors and it's a pleasure to spot pieces we like through such visual cacophony.  The tightly packed spaces also made for some interesting photographs.