Mathieu Lefèvre

MAKE IT BIG (RÉTROSPECTIVE)
05.12–06.18.2016
Room 1

CURATED BY :

Nicolas Mavrikakis,  Roxanne Arsenault & Manon Tourigny

and

Mathieu Lefèvre

(thanks to a mediumistic reading)

How should one be faithful to the memory of an artist and to the meaning of their work? This is one of art history’s fundamental questions. The same could be said for friendship. For this retrospective on the work of Mathieu Lefèvre, who died in Brooklyn in 2011, we’ve gone to great lengths to re-establish a dialogue with the artist and his work. We have even consulted with a medium so Mathieu could tell us how to deal with the work he’s left behind. The answer that seemed to emerge from the hereafter was, “Make it Big”. Which was fitting, given Mathieu’s characteristic humour. And make it big, we did. To our knowledge, this exhibition is the first to have been organized with the help of the artist’s spirit, no less. Even more impressive than Chateaubriand’s Mémoires d’outre-tombe (Memoirs from Beyond the Tomb), written before the author’s death!

And so, we have chosen to mount the first retrospective of his work based on the recurring themes of his practice, namely his irreverent and anti-establishment spirit, and his habit of confronting the artistic legacy of many of art history’s biggest names, especially within contemporary art, with whom he maintained an ambivalent relationship. This exhibition explores his work in all its forms and at each stage of his life, from excerpts of films in which he starred as a young actor, to artworks he created while a student, such as the video titled, Mathieu Lefèvre est un artiste important(2005), to pieces he had been working on in his studio at the time of his death, and a recreation of the essential elements of that space. We have even realized his projet/testament (will/project), created during the Baie Saint-Paul Symposium, which could only be carried out after his death, with his death. That is, to expose his corpse, or at the very least (in its absence) his funerary urn, which his parents have graciously brought here from Alberta especially for this event. Indeed, Mathieu had even thought of turning his death into a work of art.

During the course of the exhibition’s five-week run, two books on Mathieu’s life and work will be launched. The first is an “un-authorized biography” where friends, family and loved-ones recount stories of the artist’s life. The second publication is a collection of drawings and notes selected from his many sketchbooks.

Finally, this exhibition will be complemented by the Montréal launch of, I Don’t Understand Art About Art, a book written by Mathieu’s parents, as well as the launch of issue 113 of ESPACE art actuel, which has dedicated its front cover and a special insert to the memory of Mathieu Lefèvre.

Like a rock star, his death came all too soon at age 30. Mathieu Lefèvre was a shooting star who left behind a prodigious and multitudinous body of work.