My solo exhibition titled ‘Les Vrais Amis’ (True Friends) was at Engramme Gallery and Musée de la Civilisation in Québec. The installation and artworks includes selected words which are identical in French and English. The exhibition title stems from the alternative naming of identical words in French as´les vrais amis’. Each artwork is colour coded and represents a specific selected theme in the series I have been building. Assembled and mixed across together the words start forming surreal combinations. Some words are presented as a sequence erected on vertical pillars and remind us of an exquisite corpse.
The project started way back when I was in the UK and the result of the Brexit referendum came with a rise in nationalism and brought division. I remember speaking French on a bus and a man shouted at me: ´If you can’t speak our language, go back to your country’ so I asked him ´what is my country?’ - he claimed it’s where I’m born - anyway I’m born in the UK so here goes… regardless it questioned me on how we can search for commonalities in times of division and how we can find ways to bring people together through language. This project has several chapters but I’m happy here to present the first installation of this long term project where I celebrate words we have in common, these words lead to a whole world, a world where we can thrive and speak together. The focus has been on French and English as these are the two languages I have grown up with and speak.
I was awarded a two month residency in Quebec from 16 May to 16 July by Cité Internationale de la Langue Française, FRAC Picardie, Le Musée de la Civilisation Québec, Méduse, le CALQ et Engramme (le centre de l'estampe et art actuel)