Spirit Communications
Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain is pleased to present Spirit Communications, an exhibition of new work by John Latour that runs from October 23 to December 4, 2010. Inspired by the rich history of paranormal research of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Latour uses sculpture, drawing installation, and video to explore the intersections between contemporary art and otherworldly contact.
In recent years, Latour's sculpture, text-based art, and found photography have highlighted the ways in which we connect with the past, and how this uniquely human activity is mediated through objects, texts and images. For the current body of work, the artist uses spirit communications and physical mediumship as metaphors for communicating with the past.
Gallery I presents a selection of small sculptures based on vintage found objects and relating to the phenomenon of apportation - ordinary or transformed objects that materialize out of thin air during the course of séances. Apports, drawn from the French verb apporter ("to carry") are believed to have been brought over from the other side by visiting spirits.
Copper wire antennas connect Galleries I and II, and in the artist's œuvre, are sensitive to signals from the past. From these wires, Latour has strung a selection of pencil-and-wax drawings depicting objects from his sculptural practice. By focusing on vintage found objects, the artist highlights the sense of history these items evoke while acknowledging that their individual histories have been lost. The placement of these drawings throughout the gallery relates to signal sweet-spots identified by the artist through the use of his Spirit radio (2009-2010). This hand-held sculpture combines an old railway cap with crystal radio technology from the 1920s and onwards.
Gallery III includes a sculptural installation based on the tradition of spirit cabinets - enclosed spaces created from furniture and curtains that were used by mediums to focus their psychic powers. Traditionally, these cabinets are used before or during séances. Latour's Psychic cabinet (2009) provides the occupant with a private shelter to collect their own mental energies.
Spirit Communications also presents a short video work by Latour entitled Melting paraffin (2010). Celebrating the uncanny in everyday life, Melting paraffinwas recently premiered at the 2010 Toronto Urban Film Festival.
The exploration of spirit communications through sculpture and drawing represents burgeoning fields of research in contemporary art. In a broader sense though, this blurring of art and the paranormal has been a fertile source of inspiration for contemporary artists for years - particularly in the areas of photography (including spirit, Kirlian, and thoughtography), transcommunication (such as Electronic Voice Phenomena), as well as séance-based performance.
John Latour has a BFA in Studio Art, a MLIS, and a MA in Art History. Solo exhibitions of his work have been held in Quebec and Ontario, most recently at the Karsh-Masson Gallery (Ottawa) in 2009. He has also participated in numerous group exhibitions in Canada and abroad. Currently, his text-based art is being presented at Salon no. 6 at Marine (Santa Monica), and will be included in the upcoming show Obsolete Concepts at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery (Oshawa). Latour is the recipient of artist grants from the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council. His artwork is found in public and private collections in Canada and the U.S. Originally from Ottawa, the artist lives and works in Montreal.
The artist would like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts for its support of his recent Spirit Communications Series.
