International Biennial of the Contemporary Image
September 10–October 11, 2015
Official opening: September 10, 6:30pm
Biennal headquarters: Parisian Laundry
3550 St-Antoine St. West
Montreal, Quebec, H4C 1A9
Canada
Hours: Wednesday–Sunday noon–7pm
T +1 514 390 0383
info [at] moisdelaphoto.com
The biennial
Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal (MPM) is the leading international contemporary photography biennial in Canada, investigating issues relating to contemporary photography and moving images for more than 25 years. For the event’s 14th edition, Catalan guest curator Joan Fontcuberta has proposed the theme “The Post-Photographic Condition.” The biennial will explore the dramatic transformations the image has undergone due to the impact of the second digital revolution, in which the Internet and smartphones play a prominent role.
The Post-Photographic Condition
Post-photography is a new era of visual culture. No longer are we interested in investigating the technological aspects of such a change, or in measuring how new devices have arrived at the forefront of our perceptions. Rather, we are concerned with observing how our relationship with the image has changed. Today, images occupy completely different roles in our lives. As Fontcuberta suggests, such visual overabundance results mainly from photographic production. The emerging visual ideology, painfully christened “post-photography,” has brushed aside many of the camera’s atavistic values. It influences mainly young people, and thus projects the future. Since the turn of the millennium, a second digital rupture has taken place, defined not so much by technological factors, but by cultural, social, and political elements: the pre-eminence of the Internet, social media, and mobile communications.
Digital technology not only provokes ontological fractures in photography, but also engenders profound changes in its social and functional values. The biennial will feature the works of artists who critically react to this massive presence of images and their unlimited access.
Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal will feature more than 100 works by 29 Canadian and international artists in 16 venues across the city. Many of the projects will be exhibited for the first time in Canada, some of which have been created especially for the biennial.
The artists and the exhibitions
Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal is delighted to present, in partnership with 15 art venues, the exhibition program of the biennial. In addition, MPM will transform Parisian Laundry into its headquarters presenting exhibitions and creating an international meeting point for exchange through an extensive program of events.
Atelier Circulaire
Leandro Berra (Argentina / France)
Centre CLARK
Grégory Chatonsky (Quebec, Canada / France) and Dominique Sirois (Quebec, Canada) / Dina Kelberman (United States)
Centre des arts actuels Skol
Christina Battle (Alberta, Canada / United States)
Galerie B-312
Liam Maloney (Ontario, Canada)
Galerie de l’UQAM
Patricia Piccinini (Australia)
Joyce Yahouda Gallery
Paul Wong (British Columbia, Canada)
Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University
Sean Snyder (United States)
Maison de la culture Frontenac
Christopher Baker (United States) / MissPixels (Quebec, Canada) / Andreas Rutkauskas (Alberta, Canada)
The McCord Museum
After Faceb00K (Quebec, Canada)
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Owen Kydd (Alberta, Canada)
Occurrence espace d’art et d’essai contemporains
Erik Kessels (Netherlands) / Joachim Schmid (Germany)
OPTICA, centre d’art contemporain
Roy Arden (British Columbia, Canada) / Simon Menner (Germany)
PHI Centre
Jacques Pugin (Switzerland / France)
Quartier des spectacles de Montréal
Paul Wong (British Columbia, Canada)
SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art
Isabelle Le Minh (France)
Biennial headquarters—Parisian Laundry
Laia Abril (Spain) / Dominique Blain (Quebec, Canada) / Adam Broomberg (South Africa / Great Britain) and Oliver Chanarin (Great Britain) / Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller (British Columbia, Canada) / Hans Eijkelboom (Netherlands) / Roberto Pellegrinuzzi (Quebec, Canada)
Event calendar
The exhibitions are complemented by a major publication, an international colloquium, a portfolio review, and the Dazibao Prize, as well as a series of artist talks, workshops, and guided tours. As one of the major cultural events of Montreal, MPM holds a solid and prominent place within the contemporary art field.
Press relations
Fanny Gravel-Patry
fanny.gravelpatry [at] moisdelaphoto.com / T +1 514 390 0383
