[in]tangible tangles and other work
Nadia Myre
-From September 06th to October 18th 2024
Opening: September 6th at 17h
Nadia Myre, Tethered, 2021, Video, Courtesy of the artist.
A scale tilting to one side, moccasins, a Canadian flag. With these elements, Nadia Myre invites us to a meditation on memory and the present.
Six pairs of moccasins welcome us into the exhibition. Drawn from the online collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, these prints invite us to reflect on various historical acts of violence perpetrated on indigenous nations. The positioning of the moccasins, toes up, evokes those who wore them, lying beyond the image in their eternal slumber. This macabre impression is further reinforced by the metallic paper and metal frame, reminiscent of an autopsy table. The artist created this series in 2021, a few months after the discovery of 215 children's remains in Kamloops. By presenting them in this way, she shifts the memory of these objects from one register of statistics to another of empathy and human contact. Her color inversion results in a purple palette, alluding to the wampum beads, objects given as a result of a political agreement and embodying the principles of maintaining an ongoing alliance. Her intervention, intended as a decolonial gesture, provides a space for contemplation and self-reflection.
Tethered in turn amplifies this space. A Canadian flag, frayed, doubled and inverted, is seen flying in the wind. At the heart of the image, a bird tries to take flight. It can't, its legs are held back. How can we hope to soar if we're constantly prevented from doing so?
When we turn around, we see the scale facing us, unbalanced. The struggle is not over, inequalities are still very much present. It has often been said that justice is blind, yet this work seems to sow doubt. The eyes to which the artist's title refers can take many forms, observe from many points of view...
Crédit photo: Vincent Drouin
Nadia Myre is a visual artist and Algonquin member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinaabeg First Nation. She has received numerous awards, including the Sobey Art Award (2014), the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec (2019), and the Prix Louis-Comtois (2021). Her works are included in the collections of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec and the National Gallery of Canada. Recent monographic exhibitions include Lignes et Cordes (2024), The Want Ads (2024), Eyes Watching and Other Work (2021), Balancing Acts (2019), Nadia Myre: Listen, Speak and Sing (2019).
Let’s talk about it
PRESS
Anne-Charlotte Gilain, « L’artiste Nadia Myre expose son travail au centre Ahkwayaonhkeh », Mon saint roch.
Anne-Charlotte Gilain, « Méduse célèbre sa rentrée culturelle », Mon saint roch.
Josiane Desloges, « Les arts visuels s’inspirent du vivant à Méduse », Le Soleil.
RADIO
Julia Caron, « Nadia Myre’s [in]tangible tangles in Québec city », Québec AM, CBC.
Émilie Perreault, « Entrevue avec l’artiste visuel Nadia Myre », Il restera toujours la culture, ICI Première, Radio-Canada.
Melissa Mollen Dupuis, « Entrevue avec l’artiste visuelle Nadia Myre », Kuei! Kwe!, Radio-Canada.
WEB
Réseau Art Actuel, « [in]tangible tangles et autres oeuvres de Nadia Myre ».