Buy-sellf - IMPORT / EXPORT

The playful and provocative spirit of Buy-sellf is travelling all the way to Montreal this summer, carrying in its passionate wake thirty or so Canadian and French artists.

From July 8 through August 31st, Quartier Éphémère, visual arts centre, in collaboration with l'Atelier Clark, will present a massive exhibition based on the work of the French collective Buy-sellf. At the invitation of Quebec curator Josée St-Louis, the collective expressed its desire to associate itself with our artists, initiating a true and promising collaboration.

Hailing originally from Bordeaux in France, the collective Buy-sellf was formed in 1998 by three young artists. They sought to promote, through the Association Zebra 3, the work of young artists whitout a gallery representation. Out of this concept, a mail-order catalogue for the sale of artwork was born. The name Buy-sellf was derived from an English play-on-words: buy, sell, and self.

The Buy-sellf catalogue is a means of disseminating a body of information which collects, presents and diffuses non-industrial creations, multiples and research prototypes derived from artist’s practices and experimental projects. This allows for confronting head-on a large number of practices which are represented by way of objects, services, photographs, videos and furniture. Through the medium of its catalogue, Buy-sellf strives to highlight the models and the limits of consumer society by confronting the most provocative and droll subjects.

You can discover works such as Al-cola, the Cola-Cola distillery of Frédéric Pradeau, the Ping-Pong Pipe of Laurent Perbos and other amazing French creations all summer long, alongside the propositions of our own Quebec artists BGL and Claudie Gagnon, Montrealers Jérôme Fortin, Ana Rewakowicz, Manuela Lalic, Catherine Bolduc, Emmanuel Galland, Cynthia Girard, Daniel Olson, The Flators and the Torontonian Katie Bethune-Leamen, as well as the works of the Instant Coffee collective. A selection of videos will also be presented in the smaller exhibition space of the Darling Foundry.

This event will have its pre-opening launch in Québec City at Le Lieu, centre en art actuel, from 5 to 7 on June 26. The founding artists of Buy-sellf, namely Frédéric Latherrade, Laurent Perbos and Marta Jonville will be invited to make a presentation of their work as well as a promotion for the third edition of the mail-order sales catalogue. A discussion with the collective’s members and the Quebec artists BGL and Claudie Gagnon will follow the presentation.

Following the Buy-sellf : Import / Export exhibition itself will be the publication of the 4th edition of the Buy-sellf mail-order catalogue in which the Quebec and Canadian creations will be presented and offered for sale.

Wedding derision and a lively spirit of contestation, Buy-sellf : Import / Export demonstrates a very lucid take on the way we live now. Be sure not to miss this compelling franco-canadian extravaganza.

Buy-sellf - IMPORT / EXPORT

mit Stephane Arcas, Katie Bethune-Leamen, BGL , Sebastien Blanco, Catherine Bolduc, The Flators , Jerome Fortin, Claudie Gagnon, Emmanuel Galland, Clement de Gaulejac, Cynthia Girard, Manuela Lalic, Daniel Olson, Laurent Perbos, Frederic Pradeau, Sylvie Reno, Ana Rewakowicz