Photography

I meet him sometimes in the corridors of museums or universities, more often in the hubbub of an opening or the one of a tavern.  Whether he is (he thinks he is) rich and famous or tortured by the pangs of wine and bohemia, it matters very little:  he is the man-artist, mysterious being, marginal or excentric, mythical representation of the creative genius. It is about this public image these portraits of Montreal man-artists want to talk about:  traditional and romantic image, perpetuate by medias, art market and visible today in a small and local artistic milieu.The use of large format (4x5) wants to refer to this tradition of portrait; unity of composition, of distance, pose, mise en scène:  the ritual is conserved.

On the other hand, as the question is to talk – with humour – about man, art and myth, I wanted to confront the public image with my own perception (in the relation I have to them, as man, artists or models) and widely, with the perception of other women.

In this way, in their final presentation, around fifteen to twenty men portraits are sourrounded by five groups of women artisits.  The images will then try to build a dialogue between this different points of view.

The text Gossips of Artists  accompaning this exhibition has been composed from the integral transcription of the words recorded during a supper "Everything is superlative" holded June 20,1990.In this way, around 98% of the replies of this poetical trickery have been said by the guests.  My work has been limitated to the transcrition, correction and orchestration of the "quotations". Michel Lefebvre

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