More Different Than Same (from the series "Complete Squares Made From the Same Seven Pieces")

Time and light are the primary elements of Sarah Greig’s series of photographs. Revealing the process within the photographic image is a constant in her work—one recalls the emphasis Robert Ryman placed on the media and on light, referencing the materiality of painting. Her abstract, minimalist works explore models of perception while transposing qualities of drawing into photography. In More Different Than Same (from the series "Complete Squares Made From the Same Seven Pieces"), the repeated gesture of (re)composing the image is manifest as process and document.

Curator: Marie-Josée Lafortune

From the start, Pierre Boogaerts attempted to take a distance from representation and, though he mastered its codes, from pictorial tradition. So he turned to photography, in which he saw an opening, a democratization of the image. Through actions, exercises, strolls, undertaken in cities from Montreal to New York, he developed a unique conceptual approach that led him to think of the image in terms of the photographic act. Voitures bleues et ciel au-dessus de chacune d’elles (1976-1979) and Coins de rues (Pyramides) N.Y. 1978-79, Partie I (1978-1979) are two characteristic series that propose a mechanism by which spatial organization acts upon representation and our relationship to the work.

Résidence de recherche jeune création Montréal-Valence

Olivia Bourdreau has been awarded the joint Montreal/Valence research and grant program for young artists in 2010. The young video and performance artist was selected following a session held on May 22 by a jury composed of Marie-Ève Charron (Le Devoir), Sylvie Gilbert (Artexte), Marie-Josée Lafortune (Optica), and Sylvie Vojik (art3). In Valence, Boudreau will continue a body of work that revolves around instinct and the leitmotif and concept of the opening. This year she is also being offered a stay at Moly-Sabata, in Isère. This joint program initiated by OPTICA and art3 in 2005 receives support from the Ministère des relations internationales du Québec and the Consulat général de France.

Optica, un projet d'art contemporain no. 3 + no. 4 | Artist projects distributed as free posters

*Available in October*

As of January 2010, original artist projects highlighting current programming and the OPTICA Archives have been made freely available in the form of limited edition posters. Around fifteen consignee venues now form an alternative distribution network that stretches all the way to France. Following on Gabor Szilasi (no.1) and Anne-Lise Seusse (no.2) and , the next duo, Stéphane Gilot (no.3) and Suzy Lake (no.4), heralds this year’s thematic orientation, which, aside from its focus on the document, broaches women’s contribution to the centre’s development. These, unquestionably, are images to treasure!