27.09.2014 | 23.11.2014
THE SUMMIT MEETINGS | RAPHAËLLE DE GROOT

Opening reception: September 27 at 8 PM

Reception sponsored by MNP

The Summit Meetings ponders the underpinnings of our propensity for material attachment. By gathering and exhibiting objects that are recontextualized in a kind of limbo, Raphaëlle de Groot invites us to consider their value in a different way and to examine the human and cultural processes that document, create, and weigh the immaterial importance of things. Paradoxically, this importance is sought by giving attention to objects that are discarded - whose value has come into question.

This exhibition will shift and evolve across its three venues: Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG), Art Gallery of Windsor (AGW), and Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ).  The Summit Meetingsis a large-scale installation that stages gatherings of objects from diverse sources and origins, presenting them as if they were the protagonists of an important gathering of leaders. Composed mainly of items the artist collected herself as part of an artistic investigation called The Burden of Objects , the installation will also include elements borrowed from ethnographical, historical and community museums.

In 2009, Raphaëlle de Groot set in motion her long-term project, The Burden of Objects, inviting communities within Lethbridge to donate personal items that have been stored away and bear an emotional or mental 'weight' - to free themselves of these loaded objects and transfer their burden to her. This burden became the catalyst for de Groot's creative process. For the next five years, de Groot's collection would grow as she traveled throughout Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Italy, using her objects to produce installations, performances, video, and photographs. Coming full circle, de Groot returns to SAAG where the intention of her collection evolves before moving on to AGW and MNBAQ. This exhibition serves as a summit where the items convene to contemplate their future. De Groot sees the project as a collection of events;

Raphaëlle de Groot presents her work actively in Canada and abroad. Some of her major collaborations include 8x5x363 + 1 (2002-2004) with the Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto (Biella, Italy), En exercise (2006) with the Galerie de l'UQAM (Montréal), and The Burden of Objects(2009) with SAAG. Her work was shown as part of the first Québec Triennial at Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal in 2008. In 2013, Raphaëlle de Groot carried out a performance during the opening days of the 55th Venice Biennale - the event was presented by the Galerie de UQAM and the Conseil des arts et des letters du Québec under the curatorship of Louise Déry. De Groot holds an MFA from the Université du Québec à Montréal (2006). She was awarded the Pierre-Ayot prize (2006), the Prix Graff (2011) and the Sobey Award (2012). Raphaëlle de Groot is represented by the Galerie Graff in Montréal and the Z2O Galleria - Sara Zanin in Rome.

This exhibition is organized in partnership by the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Windsor and Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, supported by the Ministry of Culture and Communications of Québec, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Ontario Arts Councl, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the City of Windsor, the City of Lethbridge and the Canada Council for the Arts. Loans generously provided by the Buchanan Bequest, City of Lethbridge, Galt Museum and Archives, AGW, Windsor's Community Museum, MNBAQ, Musée de la civilization, Landriault-Paradis Collection and the artist's collection.

Summit Meetings

Inauguration September 27 at 8 PM

Sponsored by MNP

Summit Meetingsquestions the foundations of our propensity for material attachment. Raphaëlle de Groot invites us to consider the value of things in a different way through the collection and arrangement of a variety of objects which she recontextualizes in an intermediate state evoking limbo. His approach examines the human and cultural processes that document, create and assess the immaterial importance of things. She conducts this research by paradoxically paying attention to objects that are relegated to oblivion and whose value is questioned.

This exhibition will change and evolve during its journey in the three places that will welcome it: the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (SAAG), the Art Gallery of Windsor (AGW) and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ).Meetings at the Top is a large-scale installation that stages collections of objects from various sources and origins, presenting them as if they were the protagonists of an important meeting of leaders. Composed mainly of elements that the artist herself collected as part of an artistic investigation called The Weight of Objects , the installation will also include elements borrowed from ethnographic, historical and community museums.

In 2009, Raphaëlle de Groot started her long-term project The weight of objectsby inviting the Lethbridge community to donate stored personal items that represent a certain mental or emotional "weight". Her collection offered the opportunity to free herself from the burden of these objects by transferring it to the artist - this burden constituting for her a reason for creation. Raphaëlle de Groot's collection grew over the next five years, as she traveled across Canada, the United States, Mexico and Italy. The artist uses his objects to produce installations, performances, videos and photographs. Closing the loop, de Groot returns to SAAG where the intention of his collection will evolve further before moving to AGW and MNBAQ. This exhibition constitutes a summit where objects meet in order to envision their future. De Groot sees the project as a collection of events; at each location, performances allude to the different phases of the meetings - from the inauguration to the close.

Raphaëlle de Groot actively presents her work in Canada and abroad. Among his major collaborations, we find 8x5x363 + 1 (2002-2004) with the Cittadellarte - Fondazione Pistoletto (Biella, Italy), In exercise (2006) with the Galerie de l'UQAM (Montreal), and The weight of objects(2009) with SAAG. Her work was exhibited as part of the first Quebec Triennale at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art in 2008. In 2013, Raphaëlle de Groot performed during the first days of the 55th Venice Biennale - the event was presented by the Galerie de l'UQAM and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec under the auspices of curator Louise Déry. De Groot holds a master's degree from the University of Quebec in Montreal (2006). She received the Pierre-Ayot Prize (2006), the Graff Prize (2011) and the Sobey Prize (2012). Raphaëlle de Groot is represented by Galerie Graff in Montreal and Z2O Galleria.

This exhibition is organized in partnership with the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Windsor and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, and is supported by the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec, the Conseil des arts et des letters from Quebec, the Ontario Arts Council, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the City of Windsor, the City of Lethbridge and the Canada Council for the Arts. Loans were generously provided by the Buchanan Bequest of the City of Lethbridge, the Galt Museum and Archives, the AGW, the Windsor Community Museum, the MNBAQ, the Musée de la civilization, the Landriault-Paradis Collection, and the Collection of the artist.