American mathematician and philosopher Alfred Korzybski states, "The map is not the territory."1 This pronouncement illuminates the idea that a concept is derived from something but is not the thing itself. Artist Marie-Josée Laframboise departs from traditional notions of cartography by immersing herself in the spaces that she eventually appropriates. In so doing, she constructs original environments out of preexisting spaces. The constructed networks and pathways that Laframboise generates take shape through conceptual concerns as well as the material and physical conditions of the location. The artist states, "Emerging out of a variety of themes and specific material qualities, these artworks enable me to outline, configure and capture a given territory, whether concrete or conceptual."2

 

Laframboise's mixed-media sculptures draw attention to the elasticity of seemingly rigid architectural and geographical boundaries. Merging her interests in mathematics, architecture and drawing, she subverts our preconceived notions of space (and place) and the ways in which the collective movement of our bodies negotiate territory. Effectively capturing space, these constructed threedimensional networks beg us to re-imagine our environment. In this sense, Laframboise re-maps and re-structures space through three-dimensional forms.

 

Nets are prominently featured in this exhibition. The net functions as a restraining device yet remains porous, simultaneously allowing viewers to look at and through the sculptures. Created in situ and incorporating commonplace materials such as nets, fabric, wire, plastic bottles and cord, Laframboise's sculptures demand the viewer's active participation. She requests that we traverse new paths with her, engaging in acts of re-inhabiting place and re-conceptualizing spatial realities.

 

– Andrea Fatona, Curator of Contemporary Art

 

 

Events
Opening | Thursday 12 August at 5:30 pm

 

Talk | Friday 1 October at 12:30 pm
with artist Marie-Josée Laframboise (in French)

 

Family Workshop | Saturday 2 October from 1 to 4 pm
with artist Marie-Josée Laframboise (in French)

 

Publication | A catalogue published by the Musée d'art de Joliette, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, the Ottawa Art Gallery and Marie-Josée Laframboise will accompany the exhibition Marie-Josée Laframboise: Ensembles réticulaires/Network Installations.

 

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