Summer programming: what to do at the MAC starting June 24

MONTRÉAL, June 23, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - The Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (MAC) is pleased to reopen its doors for visitors as of tomorrow, June 24, at noon, just in time for the Fête nationale du Québec. The admission will be free all day on June 24 (visitors must reserve their ticket online). In addition, the MAC would like to acknowledge the extraordinary work done by front-line workers during the pandemic and will offer them free admission from June 24 to July 3. On the program: exhibitions in the galleries with works that draw on the MAC's rich collection and continuing digital programming.

Painting Nature with a Mirror
Exhibition extended until October 11, 2020

This selective portrait of 1980s painting in Canada showcases twenty or so paintings and drawings from the collection of the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, some on display here for the first time since they were acquired. The ensemble makes it possible to establish a number of parallels with recent developments in painting. Beyond stylistic references, why do the pictorial aesthetics developed in the 1980s resonate with a younger generation of artists? What is it about the zeitgeist of today that draws us back to the works gathered here?

Points of Light
Exhibition extended until October 11, 2020

Points of Light brings together six works spanning almost forty years of moving image art, attesting to the range and depth of the Musée's video collection. The selection explores the interplay between the evolving properties of the medium and the conceptual, social or psychological content of the works ? between tiny pixels of light and vast zones of aesthetic and intellectual illumination.

Artists:
Jean-Luc Godard, Nelson Henricks, Gary Hill, Christian Marclay, Angelica Mesiti and Hito Steyerl

New exhibition : Jon Rafman
July 4 ? September 6, 2020

"What concerns me is the general sense of entrapment and isolation felt by many as social and political life becomes increasingly abstracted and experience dematerialized. There is no viable or compelling avenue for effecting change or emancipating consciousness, so the energy that once motivated revolution or critique gets redirected into strange and sometimes disturbing expression."

? Jon Rafman

The purpose of art can sometimes be to bring people to reflect on and confront the harsh realities we live in. For bold visitors who aren't afraid to question the modern world, the MAC is presenting as of July 4, two powerful and dystopian video works from Montreal artist Jon Rafman, which form a diptych in the artist's mind : Disasters Under the Sun (2019) and Poor Magic (2017) (Beverly Webster Rolph Room).

Next MAC digital events: Marie Chouinard and Edgar Arceneaux

In parallel with its activities in its galleries, the MAC is continuing its series of digital events begun in the spring. In this way, visitors who do not want to or cannot get to the Museum can still enjoy encounters, discussions, and performances online. The online program is being announced as we go through the Museum's newsletter, which visitors can subscribe to.

World premiere of a new choreography by Marie Chouinard
June 30, 2020 ? 6 p.m.
Live on the MAC Facebook page

The MAC is very pleased to present the world premiere of Jardin de sculptures éphémères, a new performance by dancer and choreographer Marie Chouinard.

Jardin de sculptures éphémères shows two dancers moving slowly on rectangular blocks of wood, which first serve as platforms and then are intimately integrated with their bodies.

The music blends with the elegant details of the dancers' movements, bringing to the ear what they are perceiving, in a hypnotic progression and dramatic rise as their soft flesh intimately encounters the edges of the platforms.

Edgar Arceneaux : Until, Until, Until... presented online
July 15 ? August 15, 2020

Originally scheduled to be presented at the MAC last spring, the video work Until, Until, Until... (2015-2017) will finally be shown online this summer. The piece is a the video installation that unpacks a particularly complex episode in recent American history, the controversial performance by singer, dancer, and actor Ben Vereen, a Broadway legend, at Ronald Reagan's presidential inauguration gala in 1981. Arceneaux has re-created this performance in its entirety, provoking thought about the power of the media to influence opinion and about the consequences that a serious miscomprehension of an artist's work might have.

Buying and booking tickets

For the free day on June 24th, as well as for subsequent days, visitors must book their tickets and time slots online: https://macm.org/en/buy-tickets/. MAC members may access the museum freely at any time, but they are nonetheless invited to book tickets and time slots online. No fee will be applied to the booking.

Special measures

The Museum is implementing special measures when it reopens to ensure the safety of its visitors and employees, while continuing to provide a pleasant, unparalleled experience.

The Museum is also asking people who are experiencing symptoms or not feeling well to stay home.

Since health is everyone's business, the MAC is also asking visitors and its employees to follow the hygiene measures recognized and recommended by the Quebec government.

Photo
François Maisonneuve

Acknowledgements

The Muée d'art contemporain de Montréal is a provincially owned corporation funded by the ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec. It receives additional funding from the Government of Canada and the Canada Council for the Arts. 

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal

Located in the heart of the Quartier des Spectacles, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal makes today's art a vital part of Montréal and Québec life. For more than fifty years, this vibrant museum has brought together local and international artists, their works and an ever-growing public. It is also a place of discovery, offering visitors experiences that are continually changing and new, and often unexpected and stirring. The MAC presents temporary exhibitions devoted to outstanding and relevant current artists who provide their own particular insight into our society, as well as exhibitions of works drawn from the museum's extensive collection. These may feature any and every form of expression: digital and sound works, installations, paintings, sculptures, ephemeral pieces, and more. In addition to its wide range of educational activities familiarizing the general public with contemporary art, the MAC organizes unique artistic performances and festive events. It is a window onto a myriad of avant-garde expressions that extend the reach of art throughout the city and beyond. macm.org/en/

Photos
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