Group exhibition:
Marie-Josée Begin, Sylvie Belanger, Ginette Legare, Maxime Rioux
Sculptures and Installations
East and West Galleries

Québecois Artists

PRESS
RELEASE

This group exhibition features sculptures and installation works by four artists formerly from Quebec and currently living and working in Toronto.

Marie-Josée Bégin's large steel constructions are concerned with the symbolic nature of geometric forms as found in crystals and organic elements. Executed in rough, unrefined steel, the hands-on industrial treatment of the material serves to contrast the perfection of pure form. Born in Trois-Rivieres and having lived primarily in Montreal, she studied at Concordia University, Montreal and York University, Toronto. This is Marie-Josée Bégin's first exhibition in a gallery context.

Sylvie Belanger's work incorporates symbols of social concepts, cultural traditions, language and myth. The principle structure in her installation takes the form of a dome, an igloo or a half globe, fabricated from steel and clay, with projections of the language of the Innuit on the surfaces. Also from Montreal, she received her B.F.A. from Concordia University and has participated in solo and group shows in Montreal, Toronto, Kingston and Windsor.

Ginette Legare's work deals with the sculptural potential of commonplace objects and formalising various materials into concrete images. Adopting a constructive approach, the formal and referential relationships between the numerous elements in each piece is emphasised. Ginette Legare received her M.F.A. at York University, Toronto and since 1982, has participated in group and solo exhibitions in Quebec City, her native city, and Toronto.

Maxime Rioux, by contrast, assumes an anti-constructive posture, making jest of formal composition. His constructions, composed of found materials and freely assembled geometric forms, contrast two types of material, the natural (leather, wood and metal) with the fabricated (leatherette, mac-tac and arborite). Maxime Rioux, also from Quebec City, received his BFA from Laval University, Quebec, and his MFA from York University and since 1981, has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Montreal and Quebec City.