The Cruel to be Kind\/Les plus beaux cauchemars <\/em>exhibition at Galerie d\u2019Outremont is an immersion in the act of painting: colour is blended out onto the walls in wide strokes of pastel blushes, and gathered once more on canvas. Castro describes the selection of acrylic, oil, linen, cotton, and found objects as \u201ctrojan-horsing feminine codes and iconography”1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> 1 <\/a> - Ana\u00efs Castro, Cruel to be Kind\/Les plus beaux cauchemars<\/em> (curatorial essay).<\/span> into the gallery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Embedded with histories of Canadian painters, Hennelly\u2019s and Riddle\u2019s work is reminiscent of the members of the Automatiste and Plasticien movements, most of whom were men, who sought to redefine the medium of painting. By moving away from limited dark, primary, and representative\/realistic palettes, Hennelly and Riddle embrace a feminist dreamscape in which there is no clear narrative but artefacts of practice appear. Hennelly\u2019s imagery draws from Renaissance painting, Fauvism, and vintage British fashions. Riddle\u2019s approach is material: her stiff, paint-coated canvases are folded with intent to form sculptures that bring tactility and sharpness to Hennelly\u2019s textured figurative paintings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The artists\u2019 practices, though vastly different, are as cohesive as if they were childhood friends. Like neighbours, they developed side by side, passing each other by yet meeting up from time to time to exchange infatuations. Their differing perspectives form an intersection where solid ground is re-formed and become entangled to continue expanding the process of painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond Cruel to be Kind\/Les plus beaux cauchemars, <\/em>the exhibitions in galleries across Montr\u00e9al as part of Pictura continue to define contemporary painting as an expanded medium. Through combinations of traditional painting processes with textile craft techniques from knitting to quilting and embroidery, and through consideration of aesthetics and new media technologies in image-making, intimate atmospheres are constructed around the city. Painting installations and sculptures come to life to map a transdisciplinary future. The artists\u2019 use of materials and surfaces to define subject matter representative of all bodies, histories, and imaginaries shows that their pictorial scope is vast, and their material landscape even vaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hors des murs,<\/em> the field of painting is no longer bound to canvas as support. Contemporary painting is multidisciplinary, grounded in collaboration and exchange. Embracing the technical and analytical skills required to make and reproduce images and promoting a material awareness, this duo exhibition is a gateway to Montr\u00e9al\u2019s extensive painting landscape captured by Pictura.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interested in the material culture of paint and in sustainability and accessibility in the arts, Chlo\u00eb Lalonde holds a BFA in art education and anthropology from Concordia University and an MA from the University of Applied Arts of Vienna, Austria.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/web_dec_Lalonde_Pictura_GLV02241-_Photo-Guy-LHeureux.jpg\")
Photo: Guy L’Heureux<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/web_dec_Lalonde_Pictura_GLV02272-_Photo-Guy-LHeureux-1.jpg\")
Photos: Guy L’Heureux<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/esse.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/web_dec_Lalonde_Pictura_GLV02270-_Photo-Guy-LHeureux-1.jpg\")
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