Alternate Realities - Selection of Works from the Collection - Fall 2019

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This fall, Arsenal Contemporary Art Montreal presents a selection of works from its collection under the theme “Alternate Realities”. At a time where the virtual collides with the real world, reality multiplies itself. In a world of accelerated mediatization where images are ever-flowing, the truth becomes increasingly hard to decipher.

The work of art is the perfect exemplification of a derivation of reality and a presentation of the infinite possibilities of the imaginary. Closely linked to the idea of illusion, works of art play with concrete reality, punctuating it with contrasts and asymmetries which act as layers of experience making up the fabric of our existence. In his time, Plato had already linked the concept of illusion to art by calling out its insidious ability to deceive man. Serving us an altered conception of reality, art would keep us from accessing reality, thus preventing us from understanding and engaging with the real world in order to behave well in society. But aren’t artworks rather microcosms of alternate realities allowing us to better grasp our own reality? 

Alternate Realities is an opportunity to sharpen our eyes by challenging them with a selection of artworks opening a reflection on what is real, as well as the many ways of processing and representing reality.

RELATED ARTISTS:  Faig Ahmed, Nicolas Baier, Genesis Belanger, Graham Caldwell, Cynthia Daignault, John De Andrea, Dorian FitzGerald, Ryan Gander, Sayre Gomez, Thomas Houseago, Anish Kapoor, Anselm Kiefer, Wanda Koop, Oliver Laric, Caroline Mesquita, Laure Prouvost, Ugo Rondinone, Kathleen Ryan, Emily Mae Smith, Josh Sperling, Claire Tabouret, Amalia Ulman, Xu Zhen