Alfonso Arzapalo
(Québec, Canada + Mexico)
Compositions silencieuses
Alfonso Arzapalo’s intention is to sharpen our awareness of our interaction with the environment. Whereas human interventions in the public space often “make noise” and “move air around,” Arzapalo deliberately listens to the site to deduce its behaviour. In his exhibition silent compositions, the videographed actions skyline : horizon sensible [skyline: sensitive horizon] (2010) and snowdon (2009–2011) present the story of his learning from Montreal’s downtown skyscrapers and a metro station; after he has gone, his actions leave no visible trace but continue to resonate in the space. His written intervention in the windows of Maison de la culture, cadres de vie [framing life] (2011), transforms them into ready-made framing devices and encourages us to make a similar discreet body contact with the city.
Born in 1975 in Guadalajara, Mexico, Alfonso Arzapalo lives and works in Montreal and Guadalajara. An artist (video, photography, text, performance) and architect, he keeps a close connection between these two disciplines in a practice in which he poetizes the relationship that the body has with space and the world. His work has been presented in many group shows, including Site Fest’11 in New York (2011), Collision 6 at the Parisian Laundry in Montreal (2010), and Labyrinth 09 in Tumba, Sweden (2009). He has participated in the activities of the collective L’oreille dans l’œil (2007–2008) and produced urban artworks, notably for Urbanizarte in Guadalajara (2004) and, as part of a residency at La chambre blanche, in Quebec City (2005).
MAISON DE LA CULTURE FRONTENAC
2550 Ontario E. | 514 872 7882
Sept 8 – Oct 9, 2011 | Tuesday to Thursday 12 pm to 7 pm, friday to Sunday 12 pm to 5 pm
Opening – Saturday Sept 10, 2011 at 1 pm (meet the artist)