Patrick Bernatchez. Lost in time

Galerie de l'UQAM presents Lost in Time, the first survey exhibition of the art of Patrick Bernatchez. Opening on October 21, the exhibition is curated by Mélanie Boucher. It features never-before-seen video and musical works, as well as fascinating objects designed by the artist, such as the central piece of the project Lost in Time – a wristwatch that takes a thousand years to complete a full rotation.

The Exhibition Patrick Bernatchez has undertaken two major projects so far: Chrysalides, begun in 2006, and Lost in Time, begun in 2009. The works from Lost in Time, which make upmost of the show, depict beings and things that appear to come from universes parallel to our own, while the processes used to create them speak of transformation. The exhibition revolves around the central notion of duration, of time. Time that is linear, cyclical, reinvented, immaterial, and yet sensed in body and soul. References to individual, social, animal, plant and cosmic life cycles abound, urging us to confront the ultimate certainty of death. The gap between the time of a short human life, paced by hours, days and seasons, and the illusory eternity of everlasting nature, is beyond comprehension. Assembling some fifteen works of different genres for the first time, the exhibition includes sculptures, etching mirrors, films, musical creations and photographs. The combination of so‑called conceptual works with others that solicit the senses creates enlightening dialogues and serves to reflect the broad scope of Patrick Bernatchez's artistic expression. A lavishly illustrated catalogue with essays by the curator, Mélanie Boucher, Bernard Schütze, art critic and curator, and Michel Marie, cinema historian, is in preparation for release in February 2012. The graphic design is by 1F.ca.

The Artist Patrick Bernatchez was born in 1972, in Montreal, where he lives and works. Over the past ten years, his pictorial practice based mainly on drawing and painting has expanded to include video and other mediums. He has exhibited solo at venues including Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Germany (2010), Galerie Bertrand Grimont, France (2009), West, Netherlands (2009), Artists Space, U.S. (2009), Centre des arts actuels Skol (2008), Galerie B-312 (2004) and Centre d'art et de diffusion Clark (2002). His work has also been shown in numerous group shows, events and festivals, notably at Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (2008, 2010), Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (2008, 2010), Carriageworks, Sydney (2010), Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid, New Cinema and Contemporary Art (2008,2009) and the Pančevo Biennale of Visual Arts (in collaboration with Gennaro DePasquale, 2004).

The Curator Mélanie Boucher holds a Ph.D. in art history from UQAM and has worked as a curator for ten years. Her many credits include the first Quebec showing of work by the Guerrilla Girls, produced in 2009 by Galerie de l'UQAM, and the exhibition Intrus/Intruders, shown in 2008-2009 at Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, in which Patrick Bernatchez participated. She is also the curator of a survey exhibition on the work of Claudie Gagnon, presented at Musée d'art de Joliette (2009) and at Expression, centre d'exposition de Saint-Hyacinthe (2007). In 2003, she co-curated the first edition of ORANGE: Contemporary Art Event of Saint-Hyacinthe. Mélanie Boucher has edited several publications and contributed articles to art journals and magazines. In 2005, she was awarded the Prix Relève de la Société des musées québécois.