CATHERINE PRÉFONTAINE / POSTILLONS – INTEMPÉRIES DU LANGUAGE

“Spraying saliva is the inclement weather of language” – Jules Renard

Catherine Préfontaine creates visual schemas of non-visual natural phenomena. Through the implied filter of the body as barrier and receptacle she plumbs the entire human body as it runs up against the world‚ a sensory overflow.

Préfontaine proceeds by scraping, perforating and recovering walls. Improvisation is her preferred strategy for exploring corporeal memories and physical and emotional states. For the past year she has repeatedly created holes in the walls of her studio. The groups of holes that have emerged through this process made her think of sprays of saliva (postillons) and the holes in the dial of old telephones.

In preparation for this exhibition at Sporobole, she photographed and created multiple transparencies of them. In the gallery, she exhibits them alongside drawings. The resulting constellations circumscribe and punctuate the room like a body shot through with holes.

The installation Postillons/Intempéries du langage shows the artist engaging through the practice of drawing with an in situ work. The space is treated like a recording of sensorial perceptions. The installation may be seen as an amplified field of the tormented clamour of a deafened world.

C.P., K.T.

The artist thanks Karen Trask and Myriam Yates.

/////

Sporobole invites you to Catherine Préfontaine’s artist presentation on Saturday, March 2 from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm.

Catherine Préfontaine is interested in visually schematizing phenomena of a non-visual nature. It is through the implied filter of the body as a barrier and as a receptacle that the integrity of the human being is probed as he or she encounters the sensory invasions of the world.

The artist proceeds by actions on the surface of the walls that she scratches, perforates and covers. Improvisation is privileged as a strategy to explore body memories, physical and emotional states. For the past year, she has been repeatedly drilling holes in the walls of her studio. The sets of holes that have emerged from this process make her think of sputtering, as well as the holes in old telephone handsets.

Catherine Préfontaine’s presentation will be followed by a visit to the research laboratories of the Groupe de Recherche en Acoustique de l’Université de Sherbrooke (GAUS) with André Berry.

Photos: Jocelyn Riendeau