Inside the Collective Dream of the Interior
Joanne Tod (born in 1953), Pox, 1994, oil and acrylic on polyester, 91.4 x 122.1 cm. MMFA, gift of J. Serge Sasseville in memory of François Dell’Aniello. Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
Running until July 2, 2023, the exhibition Views of Within: Picturing the Spaces We Inhabit invites us to rediscover the many facets of interior space through a selection of works from the MMFA’s collection of contemporary Quebec and Canadian art. In its latest rotation (carried out in January) it features recent acquisitions and some rarely shown artworks.
eunice bélidor
The pandemic is often used to explain the surge in importance we ascribe to our homes, but in truth this attachment has long existed. The pleasure of being at home is celebrated in myriad ways in films, songs and books: one need only think of filmmaker Wes Anderson’s fantastical interiors, singer Bruno Mars’s Lazy Song, or writer Ivan Goncharov’s novel Oblomov. However, events of the last few years have profoundly transformed our perception of the interior. At the height of the crisis, staying at home was no longer a choice, but an obligation – cocooning morphed into confinement when, rightly or wrongly, our homes were imposed on us as the safest space to slow the spread of the virus.
Views of Within is an exploration of the different types of interior spaces and the many ways they are evoked by artists. The exhibition brings together works that open the door to reveal different ways of living in and navigating through interior spaces, whether the interior is conceived as a domestic space, a place of creation or a space of intimacy. Attention is given to the utopian interior as well, since certain works also inspire us to dream of the ideal space.
Domestic interior
Of all the many interior spaces, the domestic interior is the one most used and inhabited. As the centre of family and communal life and the source of our roots and earliest memories, it is unquestionably the first thing that comes to mind when we think about lived space. In Paul André’s The First of May, a young boy with a blank stare is shown sitting in an armchair ready for the moving truck. At the time of the painting’s creation, moving day in Quebec was typically on May 1st (It was later changed to July 1st so children would not have to change schools before the end of the academic year). One imagines that the child in the painting is thinking about the things he will miss when he leaves his home behind. Vanity, by Pierre Dorion, presents an interior where a hair dryer, a spray bottle and a stool are carefully arranged in front of a large mirror. The utilitarian nature of the room is accentuated by the absence of people.
Paul André (1933-1983), Moving Day, 1972, acrylic on canvas, 86.4 x 66 cm. MMFA, gift of Mrs. Mathilde van de Pas de Goldis, Baroness Eszenaysi. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Pierre Dorion (born in 1959), Vanity, 2004, oil on canvas, 152.2 x 101.8 cm. MMFA, gift of Mr. René and Mrs. Janine Dorion in honour of the MMFA’ 150th anniversary. Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
By contrast, in her Portrait of Michèle, Raymonde April makes room for the human figure, in this case the Quebec artist Michèle Waquant. The format and composition of this portrait – oblique light, a pensive woman seated in front of a bookcase, an open curtain in the foreground – evoke traditional interior scenes that allude to the history of painting. Books on Paul-Émile Borduas, exhibition catalogues and photographs taken by April herself are prominently displayed in the bookcase and reinforce the symbolic aspect of this image, which pays homage to painting while preserving the trace of its own origins in photography.
Raymonde April (born in 1953), The Portrait of Michèle, 1993, gelatin silver print on resin-coated paper mounted on canvas, 2/3, 184.2 x 160.7 cm. MMFA, purchase, Petromont Collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Photo MMFA
The studio
The studio is a special space for artists. Whether adjoining their home or located a few kilometres away, whether shared or not, the studio is a place for reflection, for finding inspiration, for giving free rein to creativity and working through ideas. Christine Major’s Studio represents the artist’s fictional workshop, as the abstract canvases hanging on the wall never actually existed. A fine and nuanced mise en abyme of representation in painting, this work offers an original and engaging interpretation of a familiar theme. In the exhibition, the studio is presented as a solitary and intimate space, because artists are “the only socially acceptable homebodies [and] their self-imposed confinement produces a tangible result and confers prestige and respect on them.”1
Christine Major (born in 1966), The Studio, 2003, acrylic on canvas, 198 x 152.2 cm. MMFA, purchase, Horsley and Annie Townsend Bequest. Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
Private space: A place for care
The primary function of indoor space is to provide refuge, protection from the elements. The artists in this section take this notion further, however, depicting the interior as a symbolic shelter we can retreat to in order to take care of ourselves. It is the place where we can indulge in physical intimacy, tend our illnesses, collect our thoughts, nourish our souls and keep ourselves safe from attack and danger. Known for exploring issues of gender and class from a sociopolitical perspective in her realist paintings, Joanne Tod suggests in Pox that a viral disease is infecting our modern comforts.
Joanne Tod (born in 1953), Pox, 1994, oil and acrylic on polyester, 91.4 x 122.1 cm. MMFA, gift of J. Serge Sasseville in memory of François Dell’Aniello. Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
Natalie Reis’s Handle with Care also reads like a warning: the artist evokes the care with which fragile works of art must be handled, but also the care that women often lavish daily on their loved ones without receiving recognition for this emotional burden. The care of objects and the care of humans merge as one in this work. In Oreka James’s It Mustn’t Wait for Dawn or Soon Thereafter, for It Has Arrived! the figure depicted receives a message, like an illumination that comes to them after going into a trance. Portrayed in a room bathed in light, with a flower growing on one side, the figure has been rendered anonymous by the artist in order to deflect the voyeuristic gaze that too often oppresses Black people. The interior space allows the figure the intimacy it needs to experience and accept this divine message.
Natalie Reis (born in 1981), Handle with Care, 2013-2018, acrylic on canvas, 167.8 x 228.4 cm. MMFA, gift of Natalie Reis. Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
Oreka James (born in 1991), It Mustn’t Wait for Dawn or Soon Thereafter, for It Has Arrived!, 2021, oil, acrylic, oil stick and graphite on canvas, painted grommets and nails, 184 x 149.9 cm. MMFA, purchase, Hélène Couture Fund. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
In-between spaces
In-between space is a term used to define a transitional space, an area that belongs to no one, that everyone can pass through, and that affords opportunities for chance encounters. A lobby, a staircase, a bathroom, a window: although each of these is a necessary element in the layout of indoor spaces, these in-between spaces are often treated like afterthoughts, like adjuncts. At the intersection between painting and photography, Michael Merrill’s works from the series “Inner Space” depict various transitional spaces and spaces in transformation inside the Museum and imbues them with an aura of mystery. This series represents significant milestones in the MMFA’s history.
Michael Merrill (born in 1953), The Norton Starcase (Michal and Renata Hornstein Pavilion), from the series "Inner Space," 2011, vinyl paint on plywood, 63 x 63 cm. MMFA, gift of Pierre Bourgie. Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
Utopian space
Finally, utopian interiors are imaginary, sometimes rigorous, constructions of spaces that constitute an ideal for the artist who creates them. The works in this section reflect a desire to envision possible futures by means of fictitious spaces. Caroline Monnet’s installation It Cracks with Light evokes the “bones” of a traditional compartmentalized house. The artist deliberately omitted the cladding in order to reveal what lies beneath the surface, a metaphor for the housing crisis in Indigenous communities.
Caroline Monnet (born in 1985), It Cracks with Light, 2021, steel, polystyrene, gypsum, pressed wood, medium-density fibreboard, insulating sheathing, aluminum foil vapour barrier, 245.4 x 223.3 x 337 cm. MMFA, gift of the artist. Photo MMFA, Denis Farley
Having observed the lack of attention to detail and aesthetics in the construction of new houses on reserves, Monnet wanted to decorate her own house. She therefore carved a lacework of motifs inspired by traditional Anishinaabe iconography into the panels – her way of saying that we need to bring a little joy and beauty into the daily lives of people living in deplorable housing conditions. In presenting this utopian place, she hopes to inspire the creation of serene spaces that let in light and hope; where Indigenous peoples can imagine a better future for themselves.
Views of Within was designed to engage a wide audience: from those who revel in the comfort of cocooning at home, to those curious for a peek into other people’s spaces, to those who dream of their own home – a place of privacy and freedom. By opening a door to works from our collection, this exhibition invites us to discover all manner of interiors, because the “house shelters day-dreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace.”2
1 Mona Chollet, Chez soi : une odyssée de l’espace domestique, Paris, Découverte, 2016, p. 27 (translation).
2 Gaston Bachelard, La poétique de la rêverie (4th edition), Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1968 (translation).
Views of Within: Picturing the Spaces We Inhabit
Until July 2, 2023
Credits
An exhibition organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
The Museum acknowledges the vital contribution of its official sponsor Denalt Paints. It would like to thank the Young Philanthropists’ Circle of the MMFA, proud supporter of its contemporary art program, and to La Presse, its media partner. The exhibition is funded in part by the Quebec Government, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts de Montréal.
