MANIF 4: A Certain Je Ne Sais Toi

When our nation’s anglo culturati get together for a little misery-loves-company love-in, a particular (if needless) complaint often surfaces: “Why are there no Canadian biennials?” Of course, the reason these complaints are so needless (and so niggling) is that there are already some good internationally inclusive biennials north of the 49th. They just happen to be in Quebec City and Montreal.

Don’t believe it? Then get thee to the Quebec capital this month, where MANIF 4, the city’s fourth contemporary art biennial, will put those mainstream myths to rest. The fest features over 100 local, national and international names, many of them putting their newest original work on the table for Canucks of either solitude to enjoy.

From the desolate self-portrait of Catalan artist Anton Roca set amid driftwood in northern Quebec to the funny, Wurm-esque sculpture-performances of Montrealer Anne-Marie Ouellet, all works in the festival are framed by curator Lisanne Nadeau’s chosen theme of “Toi/You”—that is, motifs reflecting one-on-one relationships and meetings.

Doyon / Rivest Le siècle des lumières 2008 / photo Doyon / Rivest

Doyon/Rivest, a hometown-favourite duo whose first project played off local billboard imagery, pick up on this theme of person-to-person in a very contemporary way. Their photographs of people’s faces are lit exclusively by the bluish electronic glow of their sitters’ respective cellphones, MP3 players and PDAs.

In contrast, Montreal artist Sylvie Cotton, in a performance at the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Quebec, gets back down to the nitty-gritty of interactivity, transforming a former prison cell into a space where spectators can either spend an hour conversing with the artist or spend the time alone, door closed, conversing with their own thoughts. (A flowchart maps the conceptual dynamics of the project for those more partial to props than people.)

Other promising works abound at MANIF: photographs and sculptures from French artist Dominique Angel; a laundry-machine-driven praxinoscope from respected Quebecer Diane Landry; an installation from New York-by-way-of-Lithuiania artist Zilvinas Kempinas; a participatory mail art exhibition assembled just in the last few months; and “Intrus/Intruders,” a project where 25 artists have installed works to interact with existing art in seven galleries of the MNBA.