Chimères

In the last few years, Nathalie Grimard has explored themes relating to dreamlike states and vulnerability. In doing so, she questions our awareness about aging and the passage of time. She also worked with the idea of vulnerability through representations of characters presented either falling or jumping. She was interested in visually articulating how the body is fragile in this suspended state or moment.

The most recent production of Grimard is presented in Chimères, that is featuring a series of large scale photographs presenting two persons wrestling, two identities engaged in a fight that implies much more that it seems at first glance. On abysmal black backgrounds, two white bodies stand out, muscles tight and bulging veins, proof of the harshness of the battle. Once again, Nathalie Grimard dares to go with self-representation, adding a new duality this time: she seems to be both aggressor and victim, winner and subdued at the same time. The many conscience levels clash as if the artist was taking speleologist risks of going alone in unexplored underground tunnels.

Nathalie Grimard was the recipient of the Pierre-Ayot award in 2001, which is offered by the City of Montreal to promising young artists. That same year, she participated in the group show Metamorphosis and Cloning at Contemporary Art Museum of Montreal. More recently, she was in the À la croisée de l’art et de la médecine exhibition at Foreman Art Gallery of Bishop’s University and had a solo at the Centre d’exposition de Val d’Or. She will also show a solo, Les lutteurs, at the Centre national de recherché et de diffusion en arts contemporains numériques in Alma in 2010.

Press release