Michèle Provost: Selling Out

Curated by Sandra Dyck
5 May – 24 August 2008

Selling Out debuts a new body of work by Gatineau artist Michèle Provost, whose canny and compelling textile works have garnered national acclaim. Provost sends up art world commercialism, everyday consumerism, and merchandising mayhem with 155 action-figure-style sculptures, 12 intricate textiles and a set of 200 trading cards, all of which pay homage to the work of artists from Caravaggio to Beuys, Kahlo to Kruger, and Graham to Wall, while re-framing it for a souvenir market.

The exhibition is installed to mimic ubiquitous styles of contemporary merchandising display. The cards are presented in the hard-plastic cases typically used by collectors of sports trading cards, while the action figures — each in their own clamshell package — hang from wall-mounted pegboard. Provost’s “products” cleverly blur the boundaries between original and copy, handmade and mass-produced, fine art and kitsch. They are one-off collectibles, and they’re not for sale. So the show won’t sell out. But has Provost? Come and find out.

Michèle Provost will talk about the exhibition on Sunday, 8 June, at 2 pm.