About —
Yan Giguère’s installations, composed of hundreds of photographs, are deployed along the walls of galleries. The snapshots capture the immediate universe of the artist’s daily life. This explains the proliferation of visuals. As one might imagine, however, the images presented are selected from an even larger corpus. Although, at first glance, the artist’s work seems spontaneous, it is not; from the recording of the scene to the presentation of his mosaics in the gallery, a number of systematic, careful steps take place. Among these is the production of silver-gelatin photographs. Giguère has persisted in using this process, which is becoming obsolete in the digital era, and which strengthens the nostalgic feeling of these compositions. He also collects cameras from different periods. The renderings therefore change from one image to the next. The result is an aesthetic diversity, but also a sense of confusion about when the scene was fixed on film – like a superimposition of eras that vary according to the camera used. Giguère’s approach is therefore characterized by the coexistence of the short and long terms. In effect, the abundance and randomness of pictures taken is combined with the meticulous tasks of developing film in the darkroom, selecting images, and assembling them on the walls of his studio.
The extraordinary quantity of photographs caught on the fly, the scenes of private life presented out of context, and the true passion for silver-gelatin photography are fascinating. The fascination is exerted by the photographic condition – specifically, the condition associated with the personal photo album, a repository for instants of domestic life recorded on film. The photo album embodies a filiation with a past that immediately appeals to memory. Inscribed in this logic, the context and narratives contained in Giguère’s images are concealed. Indeed, the logic of the “exploded” hanging in no way “speaks” the images, except for the title; and yet, it is at the very heart of his work and all its richness, for it authorizes the person standing in front of these images to make free and subjective projections.
Biography —
Yan Giguère has several solo exhibitions, in particular, Choisir, presented at the galerie Occurrence in 2007, Bienvenue, à la Galerie B312 in 2002, Chavirer, at Galerie Vox in 2001 and, in 2009, Attractions, at Galerie Optica. His works are part of different public and private collections, including the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec and Hydro-Québec.
For more details: www.yangiguere.com.