Louis Couturier + Jacky Georges Lafargue in Murdochville and Bonaventure + Sainte-Madeleine-de-la-Rivière-Madeleine (2013)
Working as a duo since 1991, Louis Couturier and Jacky Georges Lafargue do research and experimentation work in environments that are isolated and/or out of the ordinary.
EXHIBIT: “MURDOCHVILLE – LA BEAUTÉ DE LA DESTRUCTION” (MURDOCHVILLE – THE BEAUTY OF DESTRUCTION)
 BONAVENTURE | Shed | Musée acadien du Québec à Bonaventure | 95, avenue de Port-Royal | View map |
| MURDOCHVILLE | Centre sportif | 501, avenue Miller | View map |
| SAINTE-MADELEINE-DE-LA-RIVIÈRE-MADELEINE | 193, route Principale | View map |
Carleton-sur-Mer, (the Gaspé, Québec) | www.couturierlafargue.com
That work takes the form of installations, videos, photographs, sculptures, drawings and unusual events in public spaces. They’ve done projects in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (French overseas collectivity), on the island of Réunion (French overseas department), in the northern part of the town of Amiens, France, and in Resolute Bay in Nunavut, northern Canada. At the present time they’re working on two projects in the world of Québec mining: “Asbestos, terre d’amiante” (Asbestos [the town], Land of Asbestos [the mineral]) and “Murdochville – la beauté de la déstruction” (Murdochville – The Beauty of Destruction). They focus on industrial activities that on a permanent basis sculpt the earth, level the landscape and influence the lives of men.
EXHIBIT PRESENTED AT THE RENCONTRES: “MURDOCHVILLE – LA BEAUTÉ DE LA DESTRUCTION” (MURDOCHVILLE – THE BEAUTY OF DESTRUCTION)
Mining activity in Murdochville began in 1953 and ended in 2003. Over those 50 years, exploitation of the copper deposit there destroyed a broad swath of forest and created a micro-desert featuring gravel dunes, cliffs and a lake. Louis Couturier and Jacky Georges Lafargue spent ten days exploring the whole extent of this stupefying mining landscape (which is usually off-limits to the public), capturing the formal and material characteristics. Exploration of this extraordinary environment produced pictures that are equally remarkable. The chosen method of publication consists in incorporating photographs from the site onto infrastructures in Gaspé municipalities.
Upcoming exhibit
March 2014
- “Terre d’Asbestos” (Land of Asbestos), Sporobole centre en art actuel, Sherbrooke, Québec
Recent or significant solo exhibits
2011-2012
- “Resolute Bay, Voyage du jour dans la nuit” (Resolute Bay: The Daytime Journey in the Night), Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Québec
- “Resolute Bay, Voyage du jour dans la nuit,” Musée de Picardie, Amiens, France
Recent or significant group exhibits
2010
- “Tierras del mundo, Décima Bienal de la Habana: Integración y Resistencia en la Era Global,” Havana, Cuba
Significant publications
2011
- Resolute Bay, Voyage du jour dans la nuit, Sagamie Éditeur and Musée de la Picardie, Alma, Québec; Amiens, France
2000
- Identités flottantes (Floating Identities), Centre culturel canadien, Paris, France
1998
- Images et propos mobiles (Mobile Images and Words), CRÉDAC, Centre d’art contemporain d’Ivry, Ivry-sur-Seine, France