Buveurs de quintessences (Drinkers of quintessences)

WITH EXCERPTS OF INTERVIEWS WITH THE ARTISTS FORTNER ANDERSON, MARIE-CLAIRE BLAIS, ALEXANDRE DAVID, STÉPHANE LA RUE, JÁNOS SUGÁR AND THE CURATOR OF THE SHOW CAROLINE ANDRIEUX

The exhibition title, Drinkers of Quintessences, is taken from Charles Baudelaire's poem "Loss of a Halo" in which the author relates the experience of an artist who inadvertently lost his distinctive attribute but ends up accommodating this loss quite well. He is freed from the pressure surrounding his status as a creator and can mix anonymously with the crowd.

Hence, the artist's personality and expertise are challenged and the fundamental principles of art are shaken.

The exhibition brings together Canadian and European artists whose work is driven by such a search for aesthetic experience. Presenting minimal works of art, apparently empty of content, ephemeral and furtive, that question their own status and embody a quest for the infinite, the exhibition takes position against the "society of the spectacle." A hymn to meditation, Drinkers of quintessences features works in search of transcendence made by artists whose main concern is to emphasize the viewers' direct experience of the work, bringing them to reflect on the very essence of art but also inviting them to let themselves be carried away by an experience beyond the gaze.

Video by SKIN

Timecodes on vimeo:2:27 CREATION OF DECONSTRUCTION4:18 SPACES5:43 EXPERIENCE OF EMPTINESS8:54 SOCIETY OF SPECTACLE11:20 LINES