The piece, titled L\u2019endroit <\/em>(2024),<\/em> was custom built by David on site, a practice that he has honed over more than thirty years. He is well recognized for his wood and plywood sculptural installations, and this three-part retrospective exhibition celebrated his iconic forms and materials. Curated by Laurent Vernet, D\u2019une place \u00e0 une autre<\/em> introduced three new installations being shown simultaneously in Montr\u00e9al and Qu\u00e9bec City, each adapted to its location, and featuring key concepts that David has returned to over the years. Whereas L\u2019endroit<\/em> took the shape of a gradual downward slope, Les pentes <\/em>(2024) at Universit\u00e9 Laval, in Qu\u00e9bec City, was in the form of a softly curving U, like a shallow half-pipe. Only two of the four sides met the walls of the gallery, leaving the platform\u2019s edges visible and allowing for circumnavigation. Finally, L\u2019avant <\/em>(2024), at Criterium, also in Qu\u00e9bec City, was a stepped installation that transforms the small storefront gallery into a mezzanine space with seating on three sides. Here, the wooden scaffold supporting the plywood installation was revealed, as visitors entered beneath the platform and made their way upward to the new intermediate level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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$\"Alexandre-David\"$
Alexandre David<\/strong>
L<\/em>\u2019avant<\/em>, installation view, Criterium, Qu\u00e9bec, 2024.
Photo: courtesy of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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$\"Alexandre-David\"$
Alexandre David<\/strong>
L<\/em>\u2019avant<\/em>, installation view, Criterium, Qu\u00e9bec, 2024.
Photo: courtesy of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
Throughout his career, David has returned to the concept of the agora or meeting place, in both indoor and outdoor installations, and these iterations similarly suggest this potential use, directing visitors to gather and experience the space together. David challenges the distance between work and viewer, turning every visitor into a participant who can climb onto, lean against, or sit, stand, or lounge on the art. There is almost no way to apprehend his installations through observation alone, as each one requires alternatives modes of entry and inhabitation, fundamentally transforming the art-viewing experience. Though his trademark spare and stripped-back aesthetic and use of industrial materials recall both minimalist sculpture and modern architecture, his invitation to occupy and interact with the space in unexpected or unusual ways is genuine and playful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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$\"Alexandre-David\"$
Alexandre David<\/strong>
L<\/em>\u2019endroit<\/em>, installation view, Galerie de l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, 2024.
Photo: courtesy of the artist<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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There is an openness and permissiveness implicit in David\u2019s works, as the space calls equally for conversation and introspection. In each of the exhibitions, a selection of additional retrospective materials was displayed, including hand-drawn sketches, photographs, and videos. These allowed viewers a glimpse behind the somewhat austere fa\u00e7ade of the wooden structures, into David\u2019s mind, process, and disposition. D\u2019une place \u00e0 une autre<\/em> offered a fresh look at his practice by revisiting the scope and scale of his ephemeral works, and its ingenious curatorial proposition put forward three simultaneous sites of possibility and connection across space and time, and from one place to another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A PhD candidate in architecture at McGill University, Ari\u00e8le Dionne-Krosnick was a curatorial assistant in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and her writing has appeared in Espace<\/em>, FOLD<\/em>, post: notes on art in a global context<\/em>, and MoMA Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Alexandre David, Ari\u00e8le Dionne-Krosnick<\/div>
Alexandre David, Ari\u00e8le Dionne-Krosnick<\/div>
Alexandre David, Ari\u00e8le Dionne-Krosnick<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Criterium,<\/strong> Qu\u00e9bec
September 13\u2013October 19, 2024

Galerie des arts visuels de l\u2019Universit\u00e9 Laval,<\/strong> Qu\u00e9bec,
September 12\u2013October 20, 2024

Galerie de l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al<\/strong>
September 3\u2013November 16, 2024<\/br>","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":266062,"template":"","categories":[884],"numeros":[7283],"disciplines":[],"statuts":[],"checklist":[],"auteurs":[7325],"artistes":[2366],"thematiques":[],"type_compte-rendu":[],"class_list":["post-266066","compte-rendu","type-compte-rendu","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","numeros-113-plastics","auteurs-ariele-dionne-krosnick-en","artistes-alexandre-david-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/compte-rendu\/266066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/compte-rendu"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/compte-rendu"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266066"},{"taxonomy":"numeros","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/numeros?post=266066"},{"taxonomy":"disciplines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disciplines?post=266066"},{"taxonomy":"statuts","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/statuts?post=266066"},{"taxonomy":"checklist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/checklist?post=266066"},{"taxonomy":"auteurs","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/auteurs?post=266066"},{"taxonomy":"artistes","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artistes?post=266066"},{"taxonomy":"thematiques","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thematiques?post=266066"},{"taxonomy":"type_compte-rendu","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.esse.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_compte-rendu?post=266066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}