Jeannot Painchaud Participates in the Big Bang Exhibit at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts

Big Bang at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) – November 6, 2011 to January 22, 2012.

The MMFA gave Jeannot Painchaud, Cirque Éloize’s Artistic Director,— along with 20 or so artists from various disciplines (Melissa Auf der Maur, Pierre Lapointe, Denys Arcand, the En Masse collective and Wadji Mouawad, to name but a few— carte blanche to create an art installation.

The only condition was that the artists had to choose a work of art from the MMFA’s collection as inspiration. Jeannot Painchaud was drawn to the “Le cirque” painting by Quebec artist Jean Paul Riopelle.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw Riopelle’s work was: What was he thinking when he was painting this? What was he feeling?

Was he seeing the bodies moving through the air, the performance, the physical feats? Was he feeling the torment of daily training, hearing the applause?

The exhalation, the breath, the beating heart.

I also heard familiar sounds:
The sounds one hears in a training room – strange – like music.

When developing an acrobatic act, creating movements that are yet to be precise, contradicting emotions arise. These raw, abstract brush strokes, these colours seeking to assert themselves are emerging from a black fog. To me, that could only be the outline of a movement seeking to take shape, on the breath of great effort.

Then, once again, I hear strange sounds like soft music and the emotions they evoke: fear, excitement, desire, discouragement and finally, a burst of pure joy. The movement trying to come into being, this breath of creation, the respiration that bears witness to all… and the heart that beats. In this painting, I see bodies struggling to express themselves, silhouettes gradually gaining focus, effort, process… breath.

So, I thought of creating an art installation that gives visitors a three-dimensional experience, one that plunges them into a sound space inhabited by ghostly bodies trying to escape the “canvas”, like an extension of the painting. – Jeannot Painchaud

Jeannot Painchaud would like to thank the entire Montréal Museum of Fine Arts team, especially Nathalie Bondil, Stéphane Aquin, Pascal Normandin and Sandra Gagné, as well as everyone who helped create this art installation: Dominique Bouchard, Ashley Carr, Julie Côté, Jean-Philippe Cuerrier, Ugo Dario, Myriam Deraîche, Annie-Kim Déry, Etienne Després, Robert Desroches, Natasha Drouin-Beauregard, Émilie Fournier, Isabelle Gilbert, Catherine Girard, Mariève Hémond, Alexandre Lane, Maxim Laurin, Yann Leblanc, Amber Lomer, Humberto Mendez, Robert Ouellette, Evelyne Paquin-Lanthier, David Plasse, Jacques Poulin-Denis, Jonathon Roitman, Robert Ruffo, Kaelyn Schmitt and Krzysztof Soroczynski.

1. Entrance to the exhibit / 2-3.Souffle et réminiscenceinstallation/ 4. From left to right:  Claude Cormier (landscape architecture/urban design), Jeannot Painchaud (circus arts) and Nathalie Bondil, Director and Chief Curator of the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts (Photos: Nicole Bouchard)

Title of the work: Souffle et réminiscence
Video: Foumalade
Soundtrack: Jacques Denis-Poulin