About —
This exhibition presents more than one hundred acrylic-on-wood paintings of different sizes in an audacious style combining what the artist calls “trash” – a term amalgamating tragedy, absurdity and humour – and caricature. In this satiric treatment of a contemporary artist’s story, Marie-Claude Pratte uncovers the underpinnings of the art establishment and questions the aesthetic judgements and social values at play when a style or an artist is promoted, celebrated – or repudiated.
Conceived as an ongoing project, this series was started in 2001 and was “revised and amplified” in 2005 for its presentation at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec. Again revisited for its presentation at the Musée d’art de Joliette, History of the Contemporary Artist now has a new chapter retracing the stunning adventure of art in the Joliette region. The Musée d’art de Joliette is dedicating this new part of the exhibition to the Canada Council for the Arts on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary. The Canada Council’s generous financial support has been indispensable to the production of many of the Musée’s exhibitions. Gaëtane Verna, executive director of the Musée d’art de Joliette, is the curator of the exhibition.
Biography —
The painter and comic-book artist Marie-Claude Pratte lives and works in Montreal after having spent ten years in Europe. She holds a degree from Concordia University, and her work has been shown in Paris, New York, Dallas and Vancouver.