MOMENTA | Biennale de l’image (formerly Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal) presents, in collaboration with the Darling Foundry, Erin Shirreff– Concrete Buildings
In order to distinguish what is proper to objects from that which pertains to interpretation, illusion, recognition, or error, Erin Shirreff (Canada) generates visual displays that probe the distance between the object and its photographic representation. In the double projection Concrete Buildings (2013–16), the artist focuses on two prototype buildings that the American artist Donald Judd designed and built in Marfa, Texas. The video installation presents long-duration montages composed from photographs and short videos. With this piece Shirreff turns Judd’s minimalist structures into emblematic monuments through a persistent gaze inflected with tenderness. She challenges our relationship with the image by foregrounding the ways in which images enlighten us and instil doubt in our minds.
For its 15th edition, MOMENTA has joined forces with curator Ami Barak, who has developed an outstanding program on the theme What Does the Image Stand For? The 2017 edition of MOMENTA explores the concept of photographic and videographic evidence for the prosecution, whether images are still or in motion, raising the question of images as avatars, and focusing on the fantastical and sublimated aspects of the reality that they convey. The 38 artists in this biennale invite us not to accept their testimony uncritically. The biennale comprises three segments. The first, which corresponds to the central exhibition at our headquarters, focuses on the work of 23 artists and is being presented at two sites: Galerie de l’UQAM and VOX, centre de l’image contemporaine. The second consists of 14 solo exhibitions spread throughout the city. And the third is an exhibition of documents located at Artexte.
Photos credits: Erin Shirreff, Concrete Buildings, 2013-2016. Two-channel HD video, colour, no sound, 73 min and 46 min (loops). Courtesy of the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co. (New York)
ERIN SHIRREFF
Erin Shirreff (1975–) was born in British Columbia, Canada, and now lives and works in New York. In her practice, she reflects on the distance between objects and their representation and explores the capacity of photography to convey a sculptural experience. Recent solo shows include Halves and Wholes at Kunsthalle Basel (2016) and a survey exhibition co-curated by the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston) and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery (Buffalo) (2015–16). Her work has been in group shows including Photography Today: Distant Realities, Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich, 2016); L’image volée, Fondazione Prada (Milan, 2016); and Photo-Poetics: An Anthology, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York, 2015). Her work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Centre Georges-Pompidou, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art of New York, among others. She is represented by Sikkema Jenkins & Co. (New York).
Curator
Ami Barak