Jean-Jacques Ringuette, Figures de la masca- rade ou La vie passionnante de Félicien 

The last decade of artistic practice in Canada has been marked by a grow-ing interest in Renaissance themes and subjects, including cabinets of curiosity, rogue taxidermy, vanitas still lifes, grotesque hybrids, and carni-valesque décor and attire. 

Recently on display at Occurrence, Jean-Jacques Ringuette’s photographs are a noteworthy example of this trend. An unset-tling exhibition, Figures de la mascarade ou La vie passionnante de Félicien combines contemporary aesthetic strategies with historical references to Medieval and Renaissance fools and tragic clowns, as well as Tarot cards, commedia dell’arte, carnival, and even the passion of Christ. The result is a somewhat off-putting exhibition, especially for a viewer unfamiliar with the historical precedents for these images. Without this context, many of the photographs verge on offensive. Les joyeux atermoiements du fatum, for instance, depicts the artist’s clown alias—Félicien—diapered, palsied, and sitting in a wheelchair surrounded by party favours, while in Je ne connais pas cet homme he vulgarly masquerades as an obese, disabled woman.