January 15–February 15, 2014
Opening: Wednesday, January 15, 2014, 6–9pm,
artist in attendance
Parisian Laundry
3550 St-Antoine West
Montreal, QC H4C 1A9
Canada
Parisian Laundry is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated exhibition Théâtre d’objets by represented artist Valérie Blass. This exhibition features a tremendous combination of brand new works as well as sculptures commissioned for Public Art Fund’s year-long exhibition at the MetroTech Center in Brooklyn, New York from 2012 to 2013. The exhibition will also present works from what Roberta Smith deemed “A standout show” in her New York Times review of Blass’ first solo exhibition in New York City in November of 2013. Théâtre d’objets includes one of the artist’s latest series where interests that have been at the crux of her practice are realized photographically and presented in parallel to her sculptures. These images represent staged scenes of puppeteers manipulating objects from the artist’s studio; here Blass provides us with a literal window into the theatre of objects that has underscored her practice for the past decade. The actors in these scenes represent the nuance of her work, they remain in the shadows, subtle and discrete, they are the props for the objects of the artists’ desire. This inter-changeability between subject and object represents the essence of Blass’ captivating visual language. The exhibition occupies both Parisian Laundry’s main floor and the gallery’s bunker space.
Valérie Blass holds an MFA in visual and media arts from Université du Québec à Montréal. She has had solo institutional exhibitions in Montréal, Québec City, Toronto and Calgary. In 2012, Blass was commissioned by Public Art Fund New York for a yearlong group exhibition at the MetroTech Center and was selected to participate in the major survey exhibition, Oh, Canada – Contemporary Art From North North America at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. In 2013, Blass’ work was included alongside such artists as Abbas Akhavan, Nick Relph and LaToya Ruby Fraser in the exhibition Traces of Life in Berlin, Germany. The work of Valérie Blass was recently presented in parallel to the Istanbul Biennale at the Art International Istanbul fair, in a group exhibition curated by Geoffrey Farmer at the Art Gallery of Alberta and in a solo exhibition presented by Parisian Laundry Projects at The Hole in New York City’s Lower East Side. Blass’ work is found in the collections of The National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Musée national des beaux arts du Québec, The Royal Bank of Canada, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and innumerable corporate and private collections throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. Valérie Blass was the recipient of the prestigious Martyn-Lynch-Staunton award, multiple awards from the Gala of the visual arts organized by the Association of Contemporary Art Galleries and the Prix-Louis-Comtois from the City of Montreal. Théâtre d’objets is Valérie Blass’ third major solo exhibition at Parisian Laundry.
The artist wishes to thank the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for its support.
