Montreal Cultural Calendar

The Latinx Book Club focuses on work by Latin American writers. The meetings are free and open to all. This specific Book Club will be hosted by Mariana Jiménez Arango. For our next meeting, we will gather on Thursday, February 28th at 7 pm to discuss a selection of short stories from Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. You will be able to buy this book in either English, French or Spanish.

The selected stories are the following:
-The Lottery in Babylon
-The Secret Miracle
-An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain

Optional secondary reading:
-Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote
-Funes the Memorious


Where and How can I purchase the book?
Find the book here: https://tinyurl.com/58a5fehf
or in-store!
More info on our webstore here:
mtlshop.drawnandquarterly.com/faq
We Ship Canada-wide!
By purchasing your book at Librairie Drawn & Quarterly you help support events like this one, independent publishing and retailing, our neighborhood, and authors both local and from around the world who depend on independent bookstores for their livelihood. Your support is appreciated.

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“An event, and cause for celebration.” —The New York Times

For some fifty years, in intriguing and ingenious fictions that reimagined the very form of the short story—from his 1935 debut with A Universal History of Iniquity through his immensely influential collections Ficciones and The Aleph, the enigmatic prose poems of The Maker, up to his final work in the 1980s, Shakespeare’s Memory—Jorge Luis Borges returned again and again to his celebrated themes: dreams, duels, labyrinths, mirrors, infinite libraries, the manipulations of chance, gauchos, knife fighters, tigers, and the elusive nature of identity itself. Playfully experimenting with ostensibly subliterary genres, he took the detective story and turned it into metaphysics; he took fantasy writing and made it, with its questioning and reinventing of everyday reality, central to the craft of fiction; he took the literary essay and put it to use reviewing wholly imaginary books.

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Jorges Luis Borges was born in Buenos Aires in 1899 and educated in Europe. One of the most widely acclaimed writers of our time, he published many collections of poems, essays and short stories, before his death in Geneva in June 1986.

In 1961 Borges shared the International Publishers' Prize with Samuel Beckett. The Ingram Merrill Foundation granted him its Annual Literary Award in 1966 for his 'outstanding contribution to literature'. In 1971 Columbia University awarded him the first of many degrees of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa that he was to receive from the English-speaking world. In 1971 he received the fifth biennial Jerusalem Prize and in 1973 was given the Alfonso Reyes Prize, one of Mexico's most prestigious cultural awards. In 1980 he shared the Cervantes Prize (the Spanish world's highest literary accolade) with Gerardo Diego. Borges was Director of the Argentine National Library from 1955 until 1973. In a tribute to Borges, Mario Vargas Llosa wrote: 'His is a world of clear, pure, and at the same time unusual ideas... expressed in words of great directness and restraint. [He] was a superb storyteller. One reads most of Borges' tales with the hypnotic interest usually reserved for reading detective fiction ...'

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Librairie Drawn & Quarterly recognizes that our bookstores are located on the unceded territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka. Many of us refer to Montreal as our home, but it is named Tiohtiá:ke. This has always been a gathering place for many First Nations and continues to be home to a diverse population of Indigenous peoples. It is important to think about how each and every one of us has arrived here. We are grateful that creating and sharing stories has been a part of this land for thousands of years and we urge you to seek out a story that is different from your own.

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Please email events@drawnandquarterly.com if you have any questions!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1576127106535585/

-Faites défiler vers le bas pour la version française-


SMALL PAINTINGS THAT SELL
a solo exhibition by David Bellemare

FEBRUARY 29TH TO APRIL 6TH
3333 Boul. Cremazie E, Door 201
MONTREAL, QC
VERNISSAGE: THURSDAY FEBRUARY 29TH 5-8 pm


Montreal, Quebec — TAP Art Space is proud to present Small Paintings that Sell, a solo exhibition by David Bellemare, opening on Thursday, February 29th, from 5-8 pm at 3333 Boul Crémazie E, Door 201, Montreal, Quebec H1Z 2H8. The show will be on view until April 6th.

David Bellemare's new series confronts the viewer with a collection that merges personal narrative with broader cultural critique. Drawing on a diverse range of sources — from personal memories and digital cliparts to the iconography of hockey and the rituals of Catholicism — Bellemare recontextualizes familiar imagery within a framework of sharp contrasts and visual dissonance.

Small Paintings that Sell navigates the artist's contemplations on fatherhood, masculinity, and the societal expectations entrenched in Quebec's cultural landscape. Bellemare’s work questions the balance between commercial success and artistic integrity, employing humor and a critical eye to dissect themes of identity, tradition, and the commodification of art.

This exhibition marks an important moment in Bellemare's career, showcasing his ability to dissect and reconstruct the vernacular of everyday life into a dialogue that resonates with both the local and the general popular culture.

We invite you to come celebrate this very special vernissage with us at TAP Art Space.

For additional details, please reach out to contact@tapartspace.com


About the artist:

David Bellemare is an MFA candidate at Concordia University in painting and drawing. He received a Canada Council for the arts research and creation grant, the Shirley Reed graduate scholarship, the Tom Hopkins memorial graduate award and was recently in residency at Sagamie. His recent exhibitions include Blastover at Galerie Cache (MTL), Along the Way at TAP Art Space (MTL) and The Patriot at O’Flaherty’s (NYC). He lives and works in Montreal.


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PETITES PEINTURES QUI VENDENT
une exposition solo de David Bellemare

DU 29 FÉVRIER AU 6 AVRIL
3333 Boul. Crémazie E, Porte 201
MONTRÉAL, QC
VERNISSAGE : JEUDI 29 FÉVRIER DE 17H À 20H


Montréal, Québec — TAP Art Space est fier de présenter Petites Peintures qui Vendent, une exposition solo de David Bellemare, qui débutera le jeudi 29 février, de 17h à 20h au 3333 Boul Crémazie E, Porte 201, Montréal, Québec H1Z 2H8. L'exposition sera visible jusqu'au 6 avril.

La nouvelle série de David Bellemare confronte le spectateur à une collection qui fusionne le récit personnel avec une critique culturelle plus large. Puisant dans une gamme diversifiée de sources — des souvenirs personnels et des cliparts numériques à l'iconographie du hockey et aux rituels du catholicisme — Bellemare recontextualise des images familières dans un cadre de contrastes marqués et de dissonance visuelle.

Petites Peintures qui Vendent navigue dans les réflexions de l'artiste sur la paternité, la masculinité et les attentes sociétales enracinées dans le paysage culturel québécois. L'œuvre de Bellemare interroge l'équilibre entre le succès commercial et l'intégrité artistique, employant l'humour et un œil critique pour disséquer les thèmes de l'identité, de la tradition et de la marchandisation de l'art.

Cette exposition marque un moment important dans la carrière de Bellemare, démontrant sa capacité à disséquer et reconstruire le vernaculaire de la vie quotidienne en un dialogue qui résonne à la fois avec la culture populaire locale et générale.

Nous vous invitons à célébrer cette vernissage très spéciale avec nous à la Galerie TAP.

Pour plus de détails, veuillez contacter contact@tapartspace.com


À propos de l'artiste :

David Bellemare est candidat à la maîtrise en beaux-arts à l'Université Concordia, en peinture et dessin. Il a reçu une bourse de recherche et de création du Conseil des arts du Canada, la bourse d'études supérieures Shirley Reed, le prix commémoratif pour étudiants diplômés Tom Hopkins et a récemment été en résidence à Sagamie. Ses expositions récentes incluent Blastover à la Galerie Cache (MTL), En Passant à TAP Art Space (MTL) et The Patriot chez O’Flaherty’s (NYC). Il vit et travaille à Montréal.

https://www.facebook.com/events/369801956013773/

Pour célébrer notre première année à Montréal, Chiguer art contemporain est ravie de présenter✨ 𝕯𝖔𝖚𝖈𝖊𝖘 𝖗ê𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖘 🦢🪞 une exposition collective mettant de l'avant deux nouvelles collaborations avec Catherine Bolduc et Véronique La Perrière M. en plus de présenter le travail de Daniel Barrow et d'Alexanne Dunn.

Douces rêveries propose une incursion envoûtante dans les univers intimistes de ces artistes. Posant un regard sensible sur le monde, ils transfigurant picturalement leurs perceptions intimes et leurs imaginaires par la peinture, le collage, l'estampe et le dessin. Leurs créations équivoques et imaginatives ne se dévoilent que partiellement, conservant toujours un élément de mystère. Ensemble, ces derniers tissent des narrations ambiguës marquées par une tension entre l'occulté et le révélé.

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To celebrate our first year in Montreal, Chiguer art contemporain is thrilled to present ✨ 𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 🦢🪞, a group show featuring two new collaborations with Catherine Bolduc and Véronique La Perrière M., as well as works by Daniel Barrow and Alexanne Dunn.

Sweet Dreams offers a spellbinding incursion into the intimate worlds of these artists. Taking a sensitive look at everything that surrounds them, they transpose their perceptions and imagination pictorially with virtuosity, though painting, collage, printmaking and drawing. Their equivocal, imaginative creations are only partially revealed, always retaining a large element of mystery. Together, the artists weave an ambiguous narrative marked bby a tension between the hidden and the revealed.


https://www.facebook.com/events/414234997798674/

𝑩𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒆
📆 Jeudi 29 février 2024, de 17h30 à 19h30
📍 5445 de Gaspé, espace 107-B (rdc en face de la sécurité) // puis à 18h30 à l'espace 608 (6e étage)
🏷️ Gratuit
ℹ️ Plus d'informations : https://bit.ly/topo-brume

Abordant le thème de la crise climatique sur fond de ville enflammée, Brume, deuxième jeu vidéo de pixels·collectif, propose une balade narrative en pixel art dont l'esthétique rappelle les bornes d’arcade des premiers jeux vidéo.

Brume, c’est un personnage composé d’eau qui a pour mission...

(english follows)

La part manquante (29.02.24 - 24.03.24)


"Ce tableau se tient"

On imagine d’emblée la posture de celui qui s’exprime ainsi devant une œuvre. Les bras croisés, le poid du corps reposant sur une jambe en retrait, la tête légèrement penchée vers l’arrière. Il enligne avec ces quelques mots toutes les dimensions de l’objet - forme, contenu, et message - sur une certitude qui clôt, selon lui, la question.


Or, effectivement, les tableaux de David Gagnon se tiennent; mais en se tenant eux-mêmes, ils ne tiennent, pour ainsi dire, qu’en peu de choses. Ce sont des sortes de porte-à-faux d'une métaphysique avare, ouverte sur un théâtre de la pénombre où se joue une scène intime, presque mystique, évoquant les jeux d’enfants.


Quand parmi les décombres de la scénographie en chantier, nous découvrons un regard qui répond au nôtre, nous sentons bien que ce ne sont pas des yeux complices qui nous observent. Ils semblent nous dire: “quel besoin avons-nous de vous?” ou ”Tout cela ne vous concerne pas!



Et lorsque toutes les certitudes initiales se seront effondrées, il ne restera plus rien du ton présomptif de notre exergue. Ou n’est-ce en réalité que le début?



"This painting holds up!"

It's easy to imagine the demeanour of someone who utters these words in front of a work of art. Arms crossed, body weight resting on a receding leg, head tilted slightly backwards. With these few words, he aligns all the object's dimensions - form, content and message - with a certainty that, in his view, puts the matter to rest.


And indeed, David Gagnon's paintings do hold up, but by holding themselves up, they hold up little else. They are a kind of porte-à-faux, a metaphysics of frugality, openings unto a theatre of penumbra where an intimate, almost mystical scene that evokes childhood games is played out.


When, amidst the rubble of an in-progress scenography, we discover a gaze that returns to our own, we sense that these eyes observing us are not complicit. They seem to say: “What need do we have of you?” “None of this is of your concern!”


In the end, when all the initial certainties have finally melted away, nothing will be left of our epigraph's presumptuous tone. Or is it really just the beginning?


https://www.facebook.com/events/1564841457688296/

3 bands, moulting, pig, then maple tree