The pandemic is disrupting Quebec art venues. But collectors Pierre and Anne-Marie Trahan, founders of the Montreal contemporary art center l’Arsenal, which is currently closed, can at the very least continue their activities outside Quebec to give greater visibility to Canadian and international artists.
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Damn COVID-19! While Arsenal’s spaces in Toronto and New York are operating normally, in Griffintown, the contemporary art center has been closed since the start of the second wave of the pandemic. “We had to review our schedule,” said Anaïs Castro, commissioner and director at Arsenal. Many exhibitions cannot take place as planned. We hope that in 2021, we will be able to resume normal activities. ”
Pierre Trahan has also stepped up to the plate recently to complain about the closure of museums, arts centers (including his own) and other places of culture by the Government of Quebec.
> (Re) read our article on the subject
Fortunately, Arsenal’s New York and Toronto activities abound.
In New York, Arsenal was due to present an exhibition of works by Montrealer Janet Werner this fall, but it was replaced by a collective exhibition, less risky than a solo in the event of sudden closure of the space. Arsenal NY is currently presenting the third part of the expo until the end of November. This Sacred Vessel, on still life, the passing of time, the ephemeral side of life. An exhibition that works well, according to Anaïs Castro.
PHOTO GREG CARIDEO, PROVIDED BY ARSENAL
View of a work by artist Peter Dreher, at Arsenal NY, as part of the exhibition This Sacred Vessel (part 3).
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Since the opening of their New York location in 2017, Pierre and Anne-Marie Trahan have exhibited great names there: Suzy Lake, Wanda Koop, Nicolas Baier, Tammi Campbell, Marion Wagschal, Kim Dorland and Janet Werner, represented by New York gallery owner Anat Ebgi. The second part of This Sacred Vessel included artists such as Walter Scott, Eliza Griffiths, Nadia Waheed or Bambou Gili.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ARSENAL
Ophelia in the Tub, 2019, an oil on linen by New York artist Bambou Gili that Arsenal NY exhibited last summer.
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“Our exhibitions in New York are giving good results,” says Pierre Trahan. Janet Werner sold 14 works to collectors at the last Armory fair. Suzy Lake, we put her in the Guggenheim. Wanda Koop was also allowed to do a solo at the Dallas Museum. Museums are starting to visit us and we are working with other galleries. But it takes time to build trust. “
Arsenal also responded positively to the NADA Miami fair, which, instead of presenting its 18e edition in Florida this year, invited galleries to host exhibitions in their spaces. Arsenal NY should therefore, in this context, exhibit in December the works of Californian Greg Ito, Montreal painter Karine Fréchette and Canadian artist Simon Hughes.
We are trying to introduce Canadian artists who are little or underrepresented abroad to the American market. By pairing them up with local artists to broaden audiences.
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Anaïs Castro, commissioner and director at Arsenal
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Like Albertan Kim Dorland with Robert Navas, an artist from Brooklyn.
It is moreover to push this strategy further that the Trahan couple hired, last January, Anaïs Castro who made the heyday of the Mature Art gallery in Montreal, but also in Berlin where she was promoting the Canadian art.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Anne-Marie Trahan and Pierre Trahan, owners of the Arsenal
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“In the two years that we opened in New York, we have found that it is not easy to distribute a Canadian artist in the United States when he is not collected there,” says Anne-Marie Trahan. Even though he sells his works for $ 50,000 in Canada. Americans buy if the artist is known and it’s a good investment. “
Toronto
At the same time, Pierre and Anne-Marie Trahan restructured Arsenal Toronto, which opened in 2013, by launching the Toronto Contemporary Syndicate (TCS) last summer at the same address as Arsenal Toronto, a 10-minute walk from the Museum of Contemporary Art. from Toronto. The TCS has created a project space for artists represented by Canadian galleries while Arsenal Toronto continues to showcase the foals of the Trahan stable.
“The concept of TCS was inspired by the contemporary art center Le Consortium, in Dijon, France, but it mostly operates commercially,” says Anaïs Castro.
By working with North American galleries, the TCS [Toronto Contemporary Syndicate] showcases Canadian artists from all over and important artists from the United States.
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Pierre Trahan, co-founder of Arsenal
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“To give them a window in Toronto. We are now working with our gallery owner friend René Blouin who has a lot of contacts and experience and who works in collaboration with Anaïs who also designs exhibitions, ”adds Pierre Trahan.
Since the Toronto art venues reopened in mid-June, TCS has presented Dynamical Systems, an exhibition of works by Quebecer François Lacasse, and It Takes Time To See, works by Geneviève Cadieux, Pascal Grandmaison and Mathieu Grenier.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ARSENAL
Great escape IX, 2019, François Lacasse, acrylic and ink on canvas, 72 in x 52 in.
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This fall TCS exhibited Francine Savard and Matthew Feyld while Arsenal Toronto offered Crawling out of a hidden place with nine young artists such as Miles Greenberg, Maya Fuhr or Ghazaleh Avarzamani. “Currently, we welcome Art Toronto within our walls,” says Anaïs Castro. With artists from the Blouin-Division gallery and artists from the Toronto gallery Georgia Scherman. “
PHOTO PROVIDED BY ARSENAL
Tentaculum™ (Dental Dam) Fixation Pro Vital Series, 2018, Catherine Telford-Keogh, vinyl image mounted on Plexiglas, 47 in x 47 in. Exposure Crawling out of a hidden place (September 9-October 17) at Arsenal Toronto.
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The pandemic is also an opportunity for Arsenal to take stock and adjust. “It’s a good time to reflect, especially with regard to the diversity of the artists we present,” says Anaïs Castro. So there are still some good sides. And we want to be ready to present something interesting when Arsenal Montreal reopens. “
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