The ideal place is an open field

Artists: Plum Cloutman (London and North Norfolk), André Ethier (Toronto), Alexandre Guay (Montreal)
Exhibition: February 25, 2021 – April 10, 2021

This morning I was reading “25 Kites That Fly” by Leslie L. Hunt [1], an instructive book that covers simple kite constructions. Though the manual is quite methodical, covering details of fabrication from the various surface materials all the way to the types of glue used, the author's descriptions had the effect of transporting me to a moment of absolute joy and bliss that flying a kite can spark. In reality, I don't think I was ever able to properly fly a kite, but that familiar feeling of wonder resurfaces on occasions when I have the chance to encounter poignant and uninhibited works of art. In The ideal place is an open field, the spirited paintings of Plum Cloutman (North Norfolk, United Kingdom), and André Ethier (Toronto, Canada) along with the candid ceramic sculptures of Alexandre Guay (Montréal, Canada) hold that rare quality of exaltation and fulfilment when a kite tugs away, gripping tightly onto the string like a vigorous puppy, and see it soar swiftly on a bright blue sky.

The title The ideal place is an open field, was taken from chapter V: Hints on Flying, expressing an idea that lays ground for Cloutman, Ethier, and Guay's imaginative landscapes and characters: “It is much easier to give instructions on where to fly than it is to find a suitable place”[2]. For Cloutman, returning to her childhood house during the pandemic set a familiar and fertile space to pour her imagined observations, just as she did as a child looking out of that same window. Through her eyes, we can experience the exhilarating sensation of encountering friendly poodles through the clouds, witness a beautiful embrace as bodies carve out of bushes and shrubs- the images unravelling as various shapes shift and wiggle into hallucinatory patterns that can disperse just as we blink. Also dealing with altered mindsets, Ethier's painting Mushroom Mountains presents red plump mushrooms that bear similarity with amanita muscaria, a fungi known for its hallucinogenic properties when ingested. Beside the known state of euphoria it can bring, the psychoactive quality of magic mushrooms also invites to an introspective quest. Trading this substance for paint, the artist's most recent series of oil on canvas deal with internal landscapes that represents one's struggle as a personal and solitary path that can lead to enlightenment. For Alexandre Guay, the plastic quality of clay along with its infinite glazing options offer the possibility to imagine a lighthearted world in which mischievous tricksters inhabit. Showing off their acrobatic skills throughout the gallery space, our heart can only melt at the sweetness and candour of those characters. Guay sees his practice as a way to give form to feelings of delight and love, and make it even more visible for us to witness

✿ text by Michelle Bui

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[1] 𝘓𝘦𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘦-𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘞𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘶. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘯 1929. 
[2] 𝘱. 79

Biographies

André Ethier (Toronto, Canada) works from his own subconscious allowing moments of beauty and tenderness to spark throughout his paintings. By examining personal views of his family and himself, Ethier constructs narratives that become rich and layered shared experiences. Ethier had recent solo exhibitions at Paul Petro (Toronto), Harper’s Apartment (New York), Derek Eller Gallery (New York), Honor Fraser (Los Angeles). His work has also been included in group exhibitions at institutions such as Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal and Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro.

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Plum Cloutman (North Norfolk and London, United Kingdom) graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2018. Her work illustrates a world of imagined characters in situations that range from the tender and sad, to the absurd and wonderfully naive, in a scale that fluctuates from the minuscule to the monumental. Cloutman has exhibited extensively in both Edinburgh and London since her graduation and has been awarded the Catriona White Prize, the Lyon and Turnbull Prize, and was featured in the 2019 Royal Society of Arts New Contemporaries exhibition.

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Alexandre Guay (Montreal, Canada) is a multidisciplinary artist currently studying in the ceramic and sculpture department at Concordia University. Since 2018, he has been an active member of the artists' collective “Passage Secret”. Guay's approach is spontaneous and reflects the energy he deploys while working through colours, materials and expressiveness and candour of his sculpted characters. This past year, he was part of group exhibitions at Promotheus Projects (Montréal), and Bruises Gallery (Montréal) and recently collaborated with the fashion brand Paloma Wool in New York City.