Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain is pleased to present Half-Shadows / Pénombres - a solo exhibition of new and recent artworks by John Latour. Half-Shadows / Pénombres comes on the heels of the artist's solo exhibition Ghost Town that took place at London's Five Years gallery in 2023, and includes a selection of works from this earlier exhibition and additional work.
In both exhibitions, Latour blurs the boundaries between the concepts of art, the past, and the afterlife. Half-Shadows / Pénombres includes vintage found photographs of individuals and small groups of friends and family members transformed by the artist's hand into ethereal, ghost-like figures that alternate between absence and presence. Half-Shadows / Pénombres also includes a series of maps from the otherworldly city of Ondon. Through Latour's intervention, the two-dimensional maps extend into the three-dimensional space of the gallery. Finally, Half-Shadows / Pénombres includes a text-based work from the artist's ongoing series of page art: The City Thought the Streets a Shadow and a new installation of A Temporary Haunt for Wandering Spirits. This installation is inspired by the tradition of spirit cabinets. Like the original cabinets of the 19th century, this ephemeral construction is made from humble materials. Unlike the original cabinets that were used by mediums to focus their psychic powers, this site-specific installation serves as a way station for nomadic spirits destined to travel endlessly throughout the world.
BIO
John Latour is a Montreal-based visual artist who works in a range of media including sculpture and installation, found photography, page art, and artists' books. Latour holds a BFA in Studio Arts, a MLIS, and a MA in Art History. He is the recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec - and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (as a member of the research group Elastic Spaces). Latour has had solo exhibitions in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and London (UK) and he has participated in group exhibitions across Canada and abroad. His work is found in the Hallmark Fine Art Collection (Kansas City), the Fine Art Collection of the City of Ottawa, and the Tom Tomson Art Gallery (Owen Sound) in addition to numerous private collections.
