Francoise Sullivan. Les Saisons Sullivan

On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the publication of the Refus global, the Musée d’art de Joliette (MAJ) presents, from May 25 to August 31, 2008, an album devoted to a choreographic project on the cycle of the seasons started by the multi-disciplinary artist Françoise Sullivan in 1947-1948. Although not completed at the time, the four seasons project was re-launched in 2005 and performed by dancers Andrée-Maude Côté (Printemps), Annik Hamel (Été), Louise Bédard (Automne) and Ginette Boutin (Hiver).

Produced by the Galerie de l’UQAM, this remarkable album comprises four unpublished choreographic drawings by Françoise Sullivan, a text by Louise Déry and sixty-seven photographs by artist Marion Landry. This series of images was shot during the recording of the video co-directed by Mario Côté and Françoise Sullivan with the assistance of Steeve Desrosiers, director of photography.

Sullivan’s initial project was a landmark event in the history of Quebec culture. It was with this choreography that modern dance was born here, and it also heralded the birth of experimental film on dance thanks to the footage shot by Riopelle on 16 mm film. This footage, now lost, showed one of the two works that Sullivan created in 1947 and 1948, Danse dans la neige, performed by the artist on the slopes of Mont Saint-Hilaire. This piece, also photographed by Maurice Perron, is known today from an album published in 1977.

Louise Déry, director of the Galerie de L’UQAM, is the curator of Sullivan’s Seasons, an exhibition produced and circulated by the Galerie de l’UQAM.

Françoise Sullivan was born in Montreal. While studying at the Fine Art School of Montreal from 1941 to 1945, she took part in the exhibition Les Sagittaires. Presented at the Dominion Gallery in 1943, this event marked a crucial moment in the establishment of the Automatist group. As a sculptor, a painter, dancer and choreographer, Sullivan was a member of this avant-garde group that signed the Refus global in 1948. In 1945 she began to explore la choreography and modern dance, studying in New York with Franziska Boas and later with Martha Graham and Louis Horst. She was awarded the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas in 1987. Sullivan taught at Concordia University from 1977, and received honorary degrees from the Université du Québec à Montréal and York University, Toronto.

Francoise Sullivan
Les Saisons Sullivan
Kuratorin: Louise Dery