“Merveilles célestes” Art Exhibition

The Merveilles célestes – Bettina Forget et Yann Pocreau exhibition presents the work of two artists following their research-creation residency created by the Centre d’exposition de l’Université de Montréal in collaboration with the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic and the Institute for Research on Exoplanets. This research-creation residency marks the 40th anniversary of the Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic (OMM) and the 20th anniversary of the Centre d’exposition de l’Université de Montréal (CEUM). The artists selected by the selection committee, Bettina Forget and Yann Pocreau, completed their research-creation residency at the OMM and working alongside astrophysicists at the Université de Montréal and the Institute for research on exoplanets.

This residency allowed Forget and Pocreau to deepen their respective research topics: the acknowledgement of astrophysicists’ contribution to the artistic field for Forget and the aesthetic work of Pocreau on light which has been at the heart of his oeuvre for fifteen years. Above all else, this residency empowered the artists to explore new paths, new locations, technologies and to interact with researchers. As a whole, this exhibition is more akin to installation art than the classical format of an exhibition. It includes traces of research, artifacts found at the Université de Montréal which served as catalysts for reflection, and works both in progress and completed.

The exhibition will take place from September 27 to December 15 2018 at the Centre d’exposition de l’Université de Montréal, 2940 ch. Côte Ste-Catherine Pavillon de la Faculté de l’aménagement, room 0056 (accessible via the Université de Montréal metro station). The opening of the exhibition will take place on September 27th at 5:30pm.

The artists

Artist Bettina Forget.

Bettina Forget is a visual artist, gallery owner, art educator and researcher. She lives and works in Montreal. Born in Germany, she studied at the Central St-Martins School of Art in London, at the Curtin University in Perth, Australia, and at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Art Education at Concordia University. Her research project is on the convergence of art and science and the manner in which women and girls can become interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through art.
Bettina Forget’s creative work stems from space science, as she is inspired by the passionate dedication of amateur astronomers. Her works speak of astronomy, science fiction and feminist issues and have been showcased in the United States, Canada, Germany, Iceland, Singapore and Nicaragua. She is the owner and director of the Visual Voice gallery which exhibits contemporary art pieces hoping to create a dialogue between art and science. Since 2016, Bettina Forget is a researcher in art-science for the artist in residence program at the SETI Institute. In this role, she is interested in the transposition of ideas stemming from collaborations between artists and scientists as well as exploring different paths of knowledge.

Artist Yann Pocreau.

Yann Pocreau was born in Quebec City and currently lives and works in Montreal. Through photography, he is interested by the strong presence of location and subject and their intimate cohabitation. His recent studies have focussed on light as a living subject and the effect of light on the narration of images. He has participated in multiple Canadian, American and European exhibitions, including Québec Gold, presented in Reims (France) ; Exercices d’empathie, at the Espace Bortier in Brussells ; the Mois de la photo in Montréal in 2011 ; Under the Radar: The New Visionaries, Paperwork et 1:3 Light in New York ; L’image rôde at the Fresnoy, in France, in 2014 (Louise Déry, commissary) ; and at the 5th Biannual of Sinope, in Turkey.

His work has been commented on in many magazines and is present in the art collections of the National Bank of Canada, Hydro-Québec, Desjardins, Deloitte in Toronto, the City of Montreal, the City of Longueil, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal, the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal, the Museum of Art in Joliette, and in the “works on loan” collection at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Quebec City. Up until 2014, he was the General Coordinator of the Centre d’art et de diffusion CLARK. He is represented by the Galerie Simon Blais à Montréal.

Contact

Myriam Barriault Fortin
Agente de promotion et liaison
Pavillon de la Faculté de l’aménagement — 0064
myriam.barriault.fortin@umontreal.ca
514 343-6111, poste 3548

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