Context
This solo, site-specific exhibition took place at galerie CLARK, an artist-run centre in Montreal.
The work addressed the gentrification of the neighbourhood in which the gallery is situated, following the purchase of the gallery’s building by Allied, a Toronto-based real-estate investment trust that brands itself as “The Creative Landlord”.
The Mile End neighbourhood was formerly a garment manufacturing district populated by immigrants and working class communities. Artists and artist-run centres began moving to the district in the late 1990s, escaping higher rental costs in more central parts of the city. Along with its exhibition activities, CLARK rented studios in the building to artists, drawing more artists to the neighbourhood. The district became a cultural hub, boasting the largest population of artists in North America in 2007. Within a decade, the Mile End became attractive to real estate investors. Now, artists can no longer afford to live or work there.
This exhibition exposed how the building in which CLARK rented its gallery space since 2001 was an epicentre for these waves of occupancy and class transformation.
As part of the exhibition, the following artists spoke about their experiences connected to Centre CLARK, the building’s purchase by Allied, the recalcitrance of the City of Montreal to intervene, and the gradual decline of artists’ spaces in Mile End:
Mathieu Beauséjour (FR 22 minutes)
artist, former general coordinator of galerie CLARK (1999-2008) and former board member of Pied Carré
Celia Perrin Sidarous (EN 13 minutes)
artist who formerly had a studio at de Gaspé, and has moved to Chabanel
Catherine Bodmer (EN 14 minutes)
artist and community organizer, general director of the RCAAQ
