Tomorrow’s Science ~ La science de demain
Mel Arsenault, Shuvinai Ashoona, Trevor Bourke, Dominic Musa, Laurence Pilon, Johnny Pootoogook, Richard Tinkler, Carl Trahan and Nicholas Zirk
February 18 to April 8, 2023
Galerie Nicolas Robert is divinely excited to present Tomorrow’s Science ~ La science de demain, an exhibition of works by Mel Arsenault, Shuvinai Ashoona, Trevor Bourke, Dominic Musa, Laurence Pilon, Johnny Pootoogook, Richard Tinkler, Carl Trahan, and Nicholas Zirk. This exhibition features a variety of practices centered around the theme of mysticism, which is a practice that stretches back as far as the earliest humans. As part of this exhibition, there will be tarot card readings with Shanie Tomassini on February 18 (during the opening), March 17, and April 1. By reservation only, please contact us for more information.
To understand mysticism, one has to completely surrender to the experience. Through paintings, drawings, and sculptures, the works in this exhibition tell a story of self-surrender of the artist to their practice. The same way we are all free to choose where our faith lies and which spiritual practice best suits our life, these artists are not imposing their perspectives on the world. Instead, they invite the viewers to tap into their own consciousness and belief systems and surrender to whatever experience they are drawn to feel. This exhibition performs as a ceremony, inviting viewers to hold on to what resonates and leave the rest.
Tinkler’s hallucinatory imagery and energetic geometries make way for a meditative moment, as Bourke and Musa’s eerie paintings might have you questioning the meaning of your dreams and memories. Ashoona and Pootoogook’s depictions of fantastic beasts emerge from their own traditions and experiences to speak to an uncanny universal that is eerily tangible. You may also be drawn to reassess your beliefs in regards to celestial bodies, through astrology, the lunar phases, or the cycle of earth’s seasons when regarding Zirk and Pilon’s paintings. Perhaps you will even be enchanted by Arsenault's sculptures by taking time to contemplate their underlining themes, or will you be tempted to find solace in Trahan’s work by seeing a divine light breaking through the darkness?
“Mysticism is just tomorrow’s science dreamed today”
- Marshall McLuhan
