Main Gallery
Micropolis 2.0
Arthur Desmarteaux & Allison Moore
January 12, 2012 – February 18, 2012
From January 12 – February 18, 2012, Open Studio presented Micropolis 2.0, an exhibition by Montréal-based collaborators Arthur Desmarteaux and Allison Moore. The exhibition was accompanied by a text by Banff-based artist and writer Lisa Borin.
Arthur Desmarteaux and Allison Moore’s Micropolis is an ever-expanding and evolving installation comprised of collaged screen and digital prints, assembled so they evoke a busy modern commercial street with pedestrians, creatures and vehicles passing by. The installation has an anthropological character inspired by the cityscapes of Québec City, Montréal and Toronto. The installation is “2.5D,” or two and a half dimensions — a modular diorama of cardboard figures and shapes placed at different levels on wooden shelves, covering the perimeter of the gallery walls, including printed elements hanging from the ceiling and the bottom of the shelves. This eclectic installation also includes sections of woodcuts and LCD video screens in the “building windows” showing animated loops and an accompanying soundtrack.The installation explores urban life and the relationships between people and large cities. The enchanted universe presented by Desmarteaux and Moore conveys a sense of wonder, awe and contemplation. Looking through the microscope, viewers are drawn in, entering a strange theatrical dimension that evokes a childhood world filled with twisted dreams and figures.
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Arthur Desmarteaux obtained a degree in Visual Arts at the University of Montreal and UQAM in 2003. He has steadily advanced his printmaking practice for the last six years as an active member of Ateliers Graff in Montreal, and has exhibited his work internationally as an invited artist to contemporary printmaking biennales in places such as Trois-Rivières, Quebec; Guanlan, China; Italy, Denmark and Sorcelles, France. Arthur has also participated as a resident artist at Martha Street Print Studios in Winnipeg, Queen Street Studios in Belfast, and Engramme in Quebec City. Arthur is a member of the Association of Puppeteers of Quebec [AQM]. He is presently developing a third puppet theatre piece entitled The Conquest of Sorrowland. Arthur is represented by La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa.
Allison Moore is an artist, educator and cultural operator. Originally from the west coast, she is based in Montreal and has produced projects in Ecuador, Brazil, the United Kingdom and Europe. Allison achieved a BFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at the Concordia University in 2005. She is an active member of Ateliers Graff (Montreal) and has developed new projects in video, animation and interactive computing as an invited artist at Studio XX, Oboro New Media Labs and the Society of Arts and Technology in Montreal. Allison’s projects at Studio XX focus on using open source media tools such as Pure Data, Arduino and Blender 3d Game engine to create new media installations. In the summer, she teaches animation and film at Galiano Island Film School in British Columbia.
Together, Moore and Desmarteaux co-founded Egotrip Productions, collaborating together since 2006 to produce puppet performances, public art and exhibitions.
This exhibition was reviewed by R.M. Vaughan in the Globe & Mail. Click here to read it.
Exhibition Brochure: Download Brochure Here