Go see… Manon De Pauw in the Québec Triennial

In early June, Mary and I went to see the Québec Triennial at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montreal. Among the best work in the show was a video installation by Manon De Pauw titled Fantasmagorie lumineuse. The apparatus and the visual effects were complex and mannered enough to make it challenging, while the playfulness and experimental spirit of the investigations kept it lively and buoyant. Once I got a handle on what I was looking at, I found myself cheering along with the action: “Please make it green next…Come’on green!…ARGH blue!” or “Ooh, ooh….try the other diagonal now….YES!” There was a lovely new painting on the screen every few seconds and I couldn’t help but feel pangs of jealousy (mixed with delight) at the efficacy, immediacy and basic humanness of it all. Catch it before the trienniel ends in September.