About —
The exhibition Décoratif! Décoratifs?, presented at the Musée d’art de Joliette from September 23, 2007 to January 6, 2008, focuses on the qualities associated with the term “decorative” in the field of the arts. Some sixty works selected from the collections of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec enable the public to explore four aspects of this question.
The show is therefore divided into four sections in which visitors will discover a wide range of historical and contemporary works that illustrate various techniques and materials. The first section, Decorative or Anti-decorative?, presents the differing approaches of several modern painters, those who defend mural and decorative art and those who espouse abstract geometric art, the artists known as the Plasticians. The second section, Surface or Depth?, is not concerned with pattern or ornamentation as is often the case with works classified as decorative, but rather with the surface effect, associated with the idea of superficiality. Object or Subject?, the third section, looks at the object’s power of evocation by questioning the basic idea of its function and its “decorative” role. The final section, Seduction or Disgust?, tackles the very relevant question of art that aims to disturb the viewer by verging on downright bad taste. The works in the show remind us that art is a series of disruptions, and that what was shocking yesterday may be attractive today.
To sum up, the works presented in Décoratif! Décoratifs? allow us to navigate through the various movements that have marked the history of art in terms of their decorative qualities, which are there to seduce, or disturb…
This exhibition is organized and circulated by the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, a public corporation funded by the Ministère de la Culture, Communications et de la Condition féminine du Québec.
The exhibition curator, Paul Bourassa, is Curator of Exhibitions and Head of Development in the Departments of Architecture, Decorative Arts, Design and Fine Crafts at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.