An exhibition displaying a fusion of various art forms has come to Timmins.
The show is presented by Bureau des regroupements des artistes visuels de l’Ontario-Sud (BRAVO) in partnership with the Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre, BRAVO-North and the Clément-Bérini Foundation.
À la croisée des chemins/ Crossroads group exhibition displays the work of 22 Franco-Ontarian artists.
Chief curator and show creator Lise B. L. Goulet, who is from Timmins, said the idea behind the show was to let the artists have a new outlook on self-expression and let them get out of their comfort zones by combining two modes of expression: fine arts with arts and crafts. This way, the artists got to try expressing themselves using ceramics, wood, copper or tapestry for a first time.
“It’s all about the creative process in a sense that artists always challenge themselves in order to go deeper into their practice or re-orient it,” she said. “Here the challenge was that the artists, who mainly work in the fine arts field, had to introduce a craft practice in the work that they were going to create.”
The name of the show, Crossroads, derived from mixing two modes of expression, Goulet explained.
“Any means is a good means but you have to experiment because as artists we have a quality issue but it’s all about the idea of a challenge. Always challenge yourself,” she said.
Each art piece is accompanied by a video showing behind-the-scenes of the artists working in their studio and how they came about to do their work.
“Fine crafts are usually one-of-a-kind pieces. And in craft, you’ll have something that is multiple,” said BRAVO-North representative Laurent Vaillancourt, who’s from Hearst and who helped put the show together.
The exhibition tour kicked off in Hearst in spring 2017 and has been in North Bay, Ottawa and Windsor. It is wrapping up in Timmins. Because of the ongoing pandemic, the show in Timmins was “toned down” and the opening reception was cancelled.
The response throughout the tour has been “pretty good”, Goulet said, with communities being interested in the art pieces.
A catalogue, featuring each artist’s biography, a statement and a photo of the work in progress, is available at the Timmins Museum for $10.
The show will be presented from Tuesday, Nov. 10 to Friday, Dec. 4. Admission is free.
The Timmins museum hours are Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
