Bourse Imago 2020 : W.W.? Frédéric Gayer

From January 22 to February 19 2021 at Galerie Sans Nom.

Imago Artist-run print studio offers an annual bursary to a candidate who has earned their Bachelors in Fine Arts from Mount Allison University or l’Université de Moncton within the past five years. This bursary enables young artists to continue their practice in contemporary printmaking in New-Brunswick. Imago extends its thanks to Galerie Sans Nom for their collaboration, as well as the Canada Council for the Arts, the province of New-Brunswick, and the city of Moncton for their financial support.

“During my one-year bursary at Imago, I had the idea of carrying out a series of work on the theme of war or, rather, wars of the twentieth century. It was in my childhood memories that two contradictory feelings came to the surface. On the one hand, passionate about cinema, I watched with pleasure war films, American, French or English, which highlighted honour of the warriors, resistance fighters or ordinary people, who by their courage and their devotion to their homeland demonstrated the victory of good over evil, of the good over the wicked. On the other hand, I had another story from my parents and grandparents who had lived the war directly, telling me about their incorporation into the army, their deprivation, the lack of food, the incessant bombardments, finally the occupation of France by the Nazis, which gave me a feeling of deep relentless unease.

Therefore, I created, through archival photographs found on the Internet, serigraphs, which, at first glance, are composed of a colourful and simplified aesthetic, but which nevertheless show in a second glance a certain disturbing reality of war. I chose to present twenty small prints, accompanied in the same spirit with a large acrylic painting of 7 feet by 7 to achieve a different impact on the viewer. “

The Galerie Sans Nom is open for viewing of the exhibition from Tuesday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Only one “bubble” at a time can enter the gallery. Visitors must follow the rules of the Aberdeen Cultural Center: wearing a mask at all times, respecting arrows and social distancing.