Valerie Blass
editTheory and Practice
editCollage
editBlass relies on the process of collage in her works, focusing on materials that have a relationship either formally or conceptually to bring new meaning out of the objects through their correlation.
Doubling
editDoubling in Blass’ practice diverts the viewer’s attention from the object as it is to the relationships it has with a similar object. Blass distorts the second sculpture using a myriad of approaches; One of the approaches that is used in Blass’s doubling is using the same texture for two sculptures and creating a figurative and abstract relationship.
“The double turns up repeatedly in my work: the idea of two things with the same shape and the same motif and then a different shape with the same motif. My motivation is about wanting to use material over which I don’t have too much control, but material that will give me some object and some shape”[1]
Continuation of Discontinuity
editBlass’s practice challenges the idea of a complete “form.” She approaches to the challenge through purposely deconstruct, then reconstruct and reconfigure in an unexpected way. She states that she does not think in advance and is open to contingency that occurs during the process.
Notable exhibitions
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Solo exhibitions
edit2019
- Le parlement des invisibles, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
- The Mime, the Model and the Dupe, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada; Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
2015
- To only ever say one thing forever the same thing, Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver[2]
- My Life, Artspeak, Vancouver; Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto, Canada
2014
- Théâtre d’objets, Parisian Laundry, Montreal, Canada[3]
2013
- Parisian Laundry Projects ,The Hole NYC, New York, USA[4]
Galeri Manâ, Istanbul, Turkey
Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Canada
- The manipulator manipulated
La Chambre Blanche, Quebec City, Canada
2012
- Blass' work was presented in a major solo exhibition at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal alongside accompanying solo exhibitions featuring works by Ghada Amer and Wangechi Mutu.[5]
2011
- PETIT LOSANGE LAQUÉ VEINÉ, Parisian Laundry in Montreal[6]
2009
- Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto in 2009.[7]
- ^ Enright, Robert, and Meeka Walsh (Dec, 2019). "Inspirational Embodiments: The Incomparable Sculpture of Valérie Blass". Border Crossing. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Valérie Blass - CV - Catriona Jeffries". catrionajeffries.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ "Théâtre d'objets - Parisian Laundry". parisianlaundry.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ "PARISIAN LAUNDRY @ THE HOLE NYC - Parisian Laundry". parisianlaundry.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ "Ghada Amer, Valérie Blass and Wangechi Mutu Exhibitions at the MAC Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal". www.macm.org. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ "Petit losange laqué veiné - Parisian Laundry". parisianlaundry.com. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
- ^ "Valérie Blass Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal". www.macm.org. Retrieved 21 January 2016.