August 14 to September 18, 2021
Kyle Williams: Ka’shatsténhsera
Curator: MC Snow
She:kon Gallery (BACA project space)
5826, St-Hubert
Tio’tia:ke (Montréal), QC
We invite you on August 14 at 2:00 p.m. for the launch of the Ka’shatsténhsera exhibition in the presence of the artist and the curator.
The inauguration of this new program will be with a solo exhibition by Kyle Williams, artist from Kahnawake. The artist will present a few series of his work in portraiture and landscape, accompanied by MC Snow who is carrying out their first mandate as an exhibition curator.
“Kyle paints giant concrete structures that occupy the environment: towers, viaducts and bridges, all icons that obscure and cast their shadows over much of Mohawk territory. But instead of the gray gloom one might expect, the artist’s interpretation of these gigantic and menacing structures reveals rugged beauty. As if cement and metal scaffolding had a soul, Williams found a way to express it. The proud ironworkers, bridge builders and hardworking families of Kanienké’hà:ka eagerly await Williams to immortalize our city on canvas; me too.’’ MC Snow
Kyle Kaientó:ton Williams is a young Kanien’kehá:ka artist from the Mohawk territory of Kahnawà:ke. Multidisciplinary artist, his most common practice is drawing and more recently painting. Its cityscapes often represent gigantic structures that rival the natural landscape, such as bridges, reinforced concrete mega-structures and skyscrapers. These are spaces that have a strange resonance for the artist, between the destruction of the landscape and the pride of the ironworkers of the community. He holds an Arts Studies degree from Dawson College (2014) and undertook a major in painting at Concordia University.
MC Snow is a Kanien’kehá:ka artist from the Mohawk territory of Kahnawà:ke. Their main practice is sculpture and installation. MC holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Ottawa (1987). Their works have been presented in individual and group exhibitions in Quebec and in the United States: in his community, through the network of Maisons de la culture de la Ville de Montreal and at the Biennial of Contemporary Native Art. The Ka’shatsténhsera exhibition is his first experience as a curator.
The Contemporary Native Art Biennial (BACA) thanks the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (Re-Connaître program for native arts) and the gallery Art Mûr. The Contemporary Indigenous Art Biennial (BACA) is an essential event to recognize and support contemporary Indigenous art and artists. Initiated in 2012 by the Art Mûr gallery, the BACA pursues its mission as a non-profit organization, to better respond to the scale of the event. In each of its editions, Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang / Montreal once again became the focal point for Indigenous artists in North America for two months. With this permanent space project, the BACA wishes to encourage the next generation between the Biennials and enrich its pool of Indigenous artists and curators from Quebec.
