Artist: Valérie Blass
Exhibition title: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe
Venue: Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada
Date: January 27 – March 17, 2019
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Oakville Galleries
The sculptures of Valérie Blass operate in the realm of the double, trafficking in formal and perceptual inversions, misdirections and discontinuities. Taking shape across a broad range of techniques and mediums—from moulding and casting to assemblage and bricolage—Blass’ practice is rooted in a commitment to the unexpected, bridging the figurative and the abstract to reconfigure our understanding of how a given object, image or material can or should perform.
In The Mime, the Model and the Dupe, the Montreal-based artist brings together a selection of works from the past ten years, a period in which she deepened her engagement with images, gestures and forms related to the body. Drawing on touchstones that extend from art history to the Internet, the works on view highlight the generative, often multiplicitous nature of Blass’ sculptural vernacular, grounded as readily in the idiosyncratic and illusory as the traditional and representational.
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, Pied, tête, main [Foot, head, hand] (installation view), 2012, paper, polystyrene, paper, glue, pigment. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, Mieux vaut une vraie tristesse qu’une fausse joie [Better to have a real sadness than a fake joy] (installation detail), 2016, fabric, polymer, Forton, paint. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, Meuble mécanique [Mechanical furniture] (installation view), 2012, bronze, found objects, Ductal, FGR, epoxy. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, Meuble mécanique [Mechanical furniture] (installation detail), 2012, bronze, found objects, Ductal, FGR, epoxy. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, Meuble mécanique [Mechanical furniture] (installation detail), 2012, bronze, found objects, Ductal, FGR, epoxy. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, Ne regarde pas [Don’t look] (installation view), 2013, digital prints on matte paper. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, Pour Interpol, mule à drogue [For Interpol, a drug mule] (installation view), 2016, fabric, resin, polymer, Forton, paint. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, L’homme réparé [Repaired man] (installation view), 2019, stainless steel, denim shorts, epoxy resin, acrylic paint. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, L’homme réparé [Repaired man] (installation view), 2019, stainless steel, denim shorts, epoxy resin, acrylic paint. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, Terminons en beauté (cruche phalllique), J’ai percé un trou (cruche standard), Précieuse ma précieuse (cruche bauhaus), Bruit encirclé (cruche nouvelle) [End on a high note (phallic jug), I drilled a hole (standard jug), Precious, my precious (bauhaus jug), Surrounded by noise (new jug)] (installation view), 2016, steel rod, embroidery fabric, PVC, glue. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay.
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, L’homme augmenté [Augmented man] (installation view), 2019, PVC pipe, heat-shrink tubing, acrylic paint. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, One couple, a single one (installation view), 2015, inkjet prints on aluminum, custom steel frames. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay.
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Installation view of Valérie Blass: The Mime, the Model and the Dupe at Oakville Galleries, 2019. Photo: Laura Findlay
Valérie Blass, L’homme préservé [Preserved man] (installation view), 2019, Forton, photographic print on polyester tissue, Plexiglas, chair. Image courtesy of Oakville Galleries. Photo: Laura Findlay
