En Chantier at Maison Linton

Notice for an upcoming “Chantier” in the sector of the Exhibition space, delivered on the final day of the show.

Jonathan Schouela presents En Chantier, two contingent bodies of work at the historic Maison Linton in Montreal’s Golden Square Mile. One room contains, Quarry, 2020-2022, a shapeshifting construction of foam bricks, upholstered in sandstone coloured fabrics, that will be continuously rearranged throughout the run of the exhibition. The other contains a series of abstract paintings that began in fall 2021, made in fabric and thread. The paintings are made of scrap fabric left over from producing Quarry.

Quarry began as a quarantine project in 2020 and was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Mayan Revival architectural style, most notably the Hollyhock House in Hollywood. These brutalist architectural oddities allude to the ruins of ancient civilizations, temples, palaces, and fortresses, and were built during a particularly sombre and traumatic period of the famed architect’s life.

In Quarry, the foam cushions are upholstered in velvets and Ultrasuede and resemble bricks. The grain, and seamlessness of these fabrics mimic the textures of real stone. They appear solid, yet they are quite soft and very comfortable. Throughout the exhibition, the artwork will be permutated into different structures, both functional and decorative. Given their fluid state, the structures can be considered as furniture, sculpture, or architectural form, depending on the artist’s interventions and the viewers’ whims.  

The fabric paintings are formal abstractions made with the waste of a conceptual practice. The awkward assortment of colours, textures and patterns conjure the feeling of a collection of discarded paint cans that no one wants, yet the combination of pretty, ugly, cute, tasteful, and dreadful can somehow be much more powerful in its fortuitous accumulation.