About —
Heaven’s Gate (after Stockhausen) is a brilliant work created by Gisele Amantea, exclusively for the Musée d’art de Joliette, as part of the Wall to Wall series. The mural measures 10 x 6.36 metres. The artist took her inspiration for this work from the design of the wroughtiron gates that used to stand at the entrance of the seigniorial manor house of Mascouche and are now on permanent display in the entrance hall of the Musée.
The creation of this imposing mural involved numerous stages and painstaking work by the artist. To begin with, she reproduced the pattern of the majestic gates on strips of vinyl which she then attached to the wall and covered with synthetic velvet. However, she chose to invert the form of the original pattern, like a photographic negative, leaving the arabesques themselves blank. This unique oeuvre, unveiled in the fall of 2009, demonstrates Amantea’s interest in physical barriers built to exclude individuals or groups thought to be threatening or undesirable.
This is the second work in the Musée’s Wall to Wall series curated by Eve-Lyne Beaudry. Presented in a space that functions like a blank page to be filled, this series is dedicated to the discovery of new works by contemporary artists. So that visitors may further enjoy it, the Musée d’art de Joliette has decided, with the consent of the artist, to extend its presentation. The oeuvre will now be part of the site-specific works presented by the Musée.
Biography —
Since 1995, Calgary-born Gisele Amantea has lived in Montreal, where she is an associate professor in the Department of Studio Arts at Concordia University. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Calgary and an MA in Fine Arts from the University of Puget Sound, Seattle. Her work has appeared in numerous exhibitions, mainly in Canada.