photographers collective

Édifice Belgo • 372 Ste-Catherine Ouest, local 311, Montréal (Québec) H3B 1A2
Contact : atelierfovea@iquebec.com

THE PHOTOGRAPHERS COLLECTIVE

The photographers' collective, FOVEA, is a group of 15 Montreal artists/photographers who operate jointly a collective workspace, darkroom and exhibition room.

Founded in 1998 as a non-profit organization, Fovea had evolved from the Atelier VOX, a collective created in 1985 by the founding members of Vox Populi and having produced, over the years, various photographic exhibits in Montreal and abroad.

Along the last productions, the collective has presented Œkoumène, an exhibition viewed in 1995 at the Maison de la culture Frontenac, in Montreal, and at the Art Centre Rotary, in La Sarre (Abitibi, Québec) as well as two public art manifestations. Presented as photographic posters on the walls of the street, the projects In the street/Dans la rue and Private parts/Parties intimes have been exhibited during the Mois de la Photo in Montreal (1995 and 1997) and at the Edinborough Fotofeis (Scotland, 1997).

The Fovea collective is now focusing its interventions in the production of public art and in situ work. The group is currently preparing a new public art project, So close / Tout près.

HOSTING ARTISTS IN RESIDENCIES

The Fovea workshop also opens its doors to other local, national and international artists requiring facilities and a space for realizing and producing photographic art work. Fovea offers an affordable and flexible schedule for artists needing to complete projects while in Montreal. This last year, three artists, from Quebec, New-York and Paris have utilized the space and equipments for their various projects.

THE PHOTOGRAPHIC SPACE

Situated in the Belgo building in downtown Montreal, the Fovea studio occupies a 1500 square foot space. It is made up of a central workspace, a darkroom and a film development room. On the premises are two black and white enlargers (one 4x5 archival print washer (up to 20x24), drying racks, a mounting press, and a repro stand. The space is shared with the Guy Mercier Photo Lab, managed by one of the members of the collective, specializing in large format b+w archival printing. The use of the space and the equipment is reserved for non-commercial photographic practice and production. The artists must submit their projects to the collective

THE MEMBERS OF THE COLLECTIVE

Jocelyne ALLOUCHERIE; Nicholas AMBERG; Alain CHAGNON; Susan COOLEN; Suzanne GRÉGOIRE; Danielle HÉBERT; Eileen LEIRE; Steve LEROUX; Guy MERCIER; Gail PASLAWSKI; Eva QUINTAS; Jean-Jacques RINGUETTE, Andrea SZILASI; Élène TREMBLAY; Loren WILLIAMS.

EXHIBITIONS:

• 2002 - Joliet, posters and artist’s projects in interior showcases, Moser Fine Arts Center Gallery, University of St-Francis, Joliet, Illinois (U.S.A.) - upcoming January 2002.

• 2001 - Tour de Villeneuve, photographic interventions in fourteen businesses and exterior spaces in the Villeneuve neighborhood, Montreal, Québec (Canada).

• 1997 - Parties intimes / Private parts, photographic street posters, Mois de la photo à Montréal / Fotofeis, Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland (UK).

• 1995 Dans la rue / In the Streets, photographic street posters, Mois de la photo à Montréal.

• 1995 Œkoumène. Exhibition encompassing the theme of territory, Maison de la culture Frontenac, Montréal / Centre d'art Rotary, La Sarre, Québec.

• PROJECTS •

Parties intimes / Private parts (1997)
Photographic Posters –Diazo Prints (blue prints)

A project that was conceived specifically for the international photo festival in Scotland, Fotofeis, whose theme that year was Sex. The photographic posters, simultaneously displayed on the streets of Montreal, Edinburgh and Glasgow, propose a meeting between the private and the public by displaying, in the street, the intimate universe of sexuality. The posters replace the collective imagery of sexual expression by outlining the already weighted clichés of this theme, and present another critical and non-explicit vision.

Dans la rue / In the Streets (1995)
Affiches photographiques – Impression Diazo (blue print)

Les oeuvres photographiques se présentent ici comme des anti-affiches qui n'annoncent rien, ne vendent rien, et dont le message porte plutôt une ambiguïté. Les images, placardées côte à côte sur les murs de Montréal, produisent un effet d'accumulation qui agit en écho à celui de la prolifération des images publicitaires dans la ville. Le travail propose une réflexion sur les modes de présentation, de diffusion et de réception de la photographie.

Œkoumène (1995)
Exhibition and Photographic Installation

Territory and its concept as viewed by ten photographers from the collective: Spaces of the child, of intimacy, of ritual, small or long travels, real or imagined. The individual visions bring together and support the exploration of multiple facets of a shifting reality. Though different visions, both critical and subjective, Œkoumène is above all the intention to create dialogue with and about space and environments.