Visual AIDS and The Body
present:
The Infidels' Hallelujah
Co-curated by Guy Berube and Francesco Corsaro

TRACY SILVERBERG
Icarus, 2004
Selenium toned silver gelatin print, 10" x 8"

This month, Guy Berube and Francesco Corsaro curate The Infides' Hallelujah* featuring artwork by Alex Aleixo, Stephen Andrews, Raynes Birkbeck, Bob Corti, James Fackwell, Arnold Fern, Martin Freeman, Frank Green, Samuel Lewis, Elliot Linwood, Gregory Maskwa, Andrew McPhail, Frank Moore, Mark Morrisroe, James Reich, Abnel Rodriguez-Quiles, Richard Sawdon-Smith, Tracy Silverberg, Tom Shooter and David Wojnarowicz.

NOTE: Previous exhibitions are also available on the website.

In the Curator’s Statement: In this series of chosen works, Bérubé touches on the delicate relationship between artist and dealer, a relationship that is vastly different, depending on whose point of view is considered. This is a business relationship that endeavors to achieve success by way of savvy marketing, media coverage, and buzz for a product that both parties involved hope inspires a buying public to make this public display of ideas and talent a part of their private lives. A constant force between these two parties is the sometimes conflicting interests shared by either of the two. Sales, artistic acclaim, street cred, one-upmanship and any of a number of other factors all combine to create what all involved hope will lead to a sense of fulfillment. Having known Guy since I moved to Ottawa, I can say with certainty that the works selected for this exhibition accurately represent Guys taste for l'art brut and all it represents. In a way, working with Guy in choosing these works was a bit of a metaphor for the relationship between dealer and artist. In turn, one of us would select a group of works in a fit of excitement while the other examined them with a critical eye validating the choices or recommending their exclusion for one reason or another. Without delving too deeply philosophically, we both worked with the goal in mind to bring together a collection of work that represents a central idea -- The Infidels Hallelujah. — Francesco Corsaro b i o g r a p h y Guy Bérubé's vision for La Petite Mort is truly -- and perhaps surprisingly, given the gallery's name -- a vision of social ethics. He sees the artist's struggle with self-awareness through visual art reflected back to the viewer not as passive recipient but as active participant in the creative endeavour. A signature feature of LPM is the feeling of discomfort many of the artworks evoke, which, as is the goal of subversive art, reflects the viewer's personal projections back upon herself. This discomfort is a necessary part of Bérubé's aesthetic and ethical sensibility. It recognizes the role of art in alienation and in critical transformation, for cultural progress is usually provoked by the ideas invoked at the boundaries of our communities. LPM artists represent subjects at the margins of contemporary Canadian urban society -- the sublime as well as the homeless and the schizophrenic -- no different than most mainstream art since the post-Renaissance period. Not here to shock nor to entertain, however, Bérubé as LPM gallery owner and director is here to provide an inclusive forum for today's Canadian & international artists, including those typically sidelined by mainstream society and those simply unable to function normally within it. He gives the Canadian visual arts community an edge that not only gives art a vehicle for its traditional cultural role, but is acknowledged for giving Canadian Art that edge that contributes to its recognition on the world stage. Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Francesco Corsaro earned a B.A. in Fine Art History and Italian Studies at the University of Toronto. A career arts administrator, Francesco has worked for various arts organizations including The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto Artscape, and the National Arts Centre Foundation, among others. Having moved to Ottawa, Ontario, Francesco divides his time between the Bytown Museum as the Director of Development and Festival X, Ottawa Photography Festival where he is co-founder and Vice President. Francesco was also the Director of the now-defunct IPO Gallery, a gallery for emerging artists. Every month, Visual AIDS invites guest curators, drawn from both the arts and AIDS communities, to select several works from the Frank Moore Archive Project. Founded in 1988 by arts professionals as a response to the effects of AIDS on the arts community and as a way of organizing artists, arts institutions, and arts audiences towards direct action, Visual AIDS has evolved into an arts organization with a two-pronged mission: 1) Through the Frank Moore Archive Project, the largest slide library of work by artists living with HIV and the estates of artists who have died of AIDS, Visual AIDS historicizes the contributions of visual artists with HIV while supporting their ability to continue making art and furthering their professional careers, 2) In collaboration with museums, galleries, artists, schools, and AIDS service organizations, Visual AIDS produces exhibitions, publications, and events utilizing visual art to spread the message “AIDS IS NOT OVER.” The Body is now the most frequently visited HIV/AIDS-related site on the Web, according to the Medical Library Association and also the most frequently visited disease-specific site on the Web, according to Hot 100. The Body contains a rich collection of information on topics ranging from HIV prevention, state-of-the-art treatment issues, humor and art. An invaluable resource, The Body is used by clinicians, patients and the general public. Part of The Body's mission is to enable artistic expression to reach the Web, and to join art with other resources needed to help the public comprehend the enormity and devastation of the AIDS pandemic and to experience its human and spiritual dimensions.

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Visual AIDS Gallery