Éphémères imaginaires is a multifaceted drawing-based project, with no determined boundary as to how drawing can be manifested through a range of disciplines including sculpture, installation and video. Conceived and co-directed by artists and curators Giuseppe Di Leo and Frank Mulvey, notions of ephemerality are expressed through a series of exhibitions and publications. With varied incarnations of content, contributors, and exhibition locations, the project is mutable, continually evolving, a shifting field of thinkers and creators.

 

In 2023-2024, the Éphémères imaginaires project debuted with an artist-led travelling group exhibition and publication of the same name. It was presented in Montreal at the Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, from January 21 to March 26, 2023, and will be in the City of Gatineau at Galerie Montcalm, from August 8 to October 6, 2024.

 

Lorraine Dagenais, Giuseppe Di Leo, Emy Gagnon Gélinas, Véronique La Perrière M, Frank Mulvey and Francesca Penserini present drawings that range from intimate pieces to large installation work. Each artist questions, from their unique perspective, how ephemerality might be embraced rather than lamented, how art and imagination might serve as an antidote to the fleeting nature of human experience. In addition, composer Alexander MacSween has created a “unifying sonic envelope” to accompany the visual experience “without asking to be heard as a separate work, like a film score.” Writer and artist Victoria LeBlanc reflects on the significance of these explorations in an introductory essay for the exhibition catalogue.

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Stay tuned for future permutations of the Éphémères imaginaires project, including Desseins éphémères, to be announced shortly.

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Giuseppe and Frank can be contacted here.

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Website background: Detail of Fluid  (2022), an installation by Emy Gagnon Gélinas with shadows of people passing by. Video by Emy Gagnon Gélinas and Frank Mulvey, video edited by Emy Gagnon Gélinas and Edouard Dufour-Boiteau.