Smack Mellon is pleased to present Janet Biggs and Aude Moreau as part of Brooklyn / Montreal, a contemporary art event with the aim of establishing a cultural exchange between 2 cities, 16 institutions and 40 artists. This is the first major artistic and cultural encounter between Montréal and New York City in over 10 years. In connection with Brooklyn / Montréal, Smack Mellon is partnered with The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, where French-born Montréal artist Aude Moreau and Brooklyn based artist Janet Biggs presented new video projects from October 4, 2012 to January 6, 2013.
For this iteration of the exchange, Janet Biggs will be screening her latest video project Somewhere Beyond Nowhere, a two-channel video installation filmed during Biggs’ expedition with The Arctic Circle program. Aboard a hundred-year-old ice-class Schooner sailing vessel with other scientists and artists participating in the program, the group started at Longyearbyen, an international territory of Svalbard just 12 degrees from the North Pole and headed as far north as the pack ice would allow them. Biggs, armed with a flare gun and camera, traveled alone onto a glacial island and filmed herself engulfed within the stark and extreme environment.
In contrast to Biggs’ expansive landscape, Aude Moreau’s large-scale installation Sugar Carpet blocks out the majority of the gallery restricting visitors to the perimeter of the space. The delicate installation is comprised of 2 tons of refined white sugar meticulously spread into an oversized carpet embellished with Persian rug motifs. Referring to domestic comfort, the use of refined sugar within the gallery’s industrial space also aims to spotlight the overlooked and undervalued process of production.
Visit the Brooklyn / Montréal website for a complete schedule of events taking place in other Brooklyn galleries!
This exhibition is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and with generous support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Smack Mellon’s Members.
Smack Mellon’s programs are also made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and New York City Council Member Stephen Levin, and with generous support from Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, The Roy and Niuta Titus Foundation, Jerome Foundation, The Robert Lehman Foundation, The Greenwich Collection Ltd, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation Inc., Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and 2012 JPMorgan Chase Regrant Program administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC).
Aude Moreau’s Sugar Carpet is sponsored by Domino Sugar. Also, special thanks to Claudine and Stephen Bronfman Family Foundation for their support of the Sugar Carpet.
We would like to thank the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Art Dealers Association of America Relief Fund, Dumbo Improvement District, Art Fag City, Richard Prince Studio, Mixed Greens Gallery, Gilbert MacKay Foundation, Athena Foundation, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, New York Council for the Humanities, Stephen Sollins, Niloo and Joe Steele, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Inc., Marie & John Zimmermann Fund, Inc., Allison and Tom Franco, St. Joseph High School, and all of the individuals who donated and volunteered to help us clean up and rebuild after Hurricane Sandy.
Space for Smack Mellon’s programs is generously provided by the Walentas family and Two Trees Management.
