Bruce Montcombroux - Landing
Reception: Closing, Thursday, August 21st, 6 - 8pm
August 11 - August 21, 2014
Landing explores liminal zones and the places between steps. Through the lens of the unknown, pointed somewhere between trepidation and adventure, Landing considers immigration, expedition, and geographical exploration. Employing drawing and sculptural installation, Landing positions a relationship between the imaginary or conceptual constructions of space and the embodied experiences of place.

Art Placement is very excited to present this exhibition, which includes a series of drawings as well as a site-specific sculptural installation. Having lived in many different cities throughout his life, Bruce Montcombroux has been Saskatoon-based for nearly a decade since relocating to commence graduate studies at the University of Saskatchewan in 2005. An interdisciplinary artist whose practice includes mixed-media sculpture, installation, drawing, and performance, his works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions at galleries and artist-run centres in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba and Newfoundland, including a major solo exhibition at the Kenderdine Art Gallery (University of Saskatchewan campus). His work was also recently included in the survey exhibition of contemporary Saskatchewan art, Combine, at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto.

Landing consists of two distinct but interrelated bodies of work. Half of the gallery space is devoted to a recent series of small-scale paper works. Hovering in the white space of the page, the ink and watercolour drawings propose structures that make reference to a range of built and un-built forms, including toy models, stage sets, scaffolding, trailer parks, architectural models, video games, digital renderings, and virtual reality. The second half of the gallery contains an architectural installation that Montcombroux will be constructing, in place, from August 11th-15th. Like past installations, the work responds to the context in which it is constructed by literally building upon the history that is recorded on the surface of the walls. Previous holes, long ago patched with plaster, become the anchor points from which the entirely wall-mounted structure will sprout. Often incorporating lights, electronics, and various moving parts, the structure becomes an almost-living thing that grows and evolves organically over the course of its construction, with no pre-conceived notion of what it should or might become. Contrary to architecture's traditional associations with solidity, stability, and permanence, Montcombroux’s drawings and installations propose an alternative built environment that is temporary, mutable, and more than a little precarious.

We invite you to visit the gallery on a daily basis between August 11th and 15th, to witness the evolution of Montcombroux’s installation. The artist will be present, hard at work. The finished structure will be on display until August 21st, with a closing reception from 6-8pm.

Installation images:

Bruce Montcombroux

Bio

Born in Oxford, England, Bruce Montcombroux immigrated to Canada at an early age with his parents. Frequent moves were the mainstay of his childhood and he has lived in countless places across Canada, including the Arctic. Montcombroux's nomadic past continues to influence him as an adult, having lived on the road, in the United States, and Europe for years on end. However, he now thinks that Saskatoon SK might be a good place to call home.

Montcombroux holds an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan and a BFA from the University of Manitoba. As a practicing artist he exhibits his work nationally and internationally to a lesser extent. His work has appeared in journals such as Grain Magazine in 2012, and in multiple press reviews. He was a mentoring artist for the RBC Artist by Artists Program at the Mendel Art Gallery, in 2013. He has attended residencies at the Banff Center, the Vermont Studio Center, and NES Artist Residency in Skagastond, Iceland. Montcombroux has also been the recipient of numerous grants, which include the Saskatchewan Arts Board, and notably a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant in 2012.

A cycle of new, large format, drawings will be exhibited at an upcoming solo-exhibition at the Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina SK, in early January 2015.

Artist Statement

My work is about site and landscape, or the permutations of place as located within malleable environments. Site is explored as a dislocated or transient location and its possible makeshift architecture. Landscape is interpreted though fractured or exploited geographies, as influenced by the dystopic and the industrial. I am concerned with how we make connections to our physical surroundings and situate my thoughts at the intersection of topography, as a form of mapping, and topology, as a type of structure. I position my work in the flat space of drawing, the presented space of sculpture, and the virtual space of digital realms in order to negotiate shifts between illusionary and volumetric spaces.

At the core of my artistic motivation are questions about belonging. My work is influenced by immigration, living in isolated environments, frequent moves, and temporary living situations. As such, the interplay between place and geography, paralleled with ideas about isolation and self-sufficiency, forms an under-tow that directly shapes my artistic practice.

CV

Exhibitions

Upcoming

2015
Site, Sight, Cite - Dunlop Art Gallery, January 2015, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina SK (solo)

Past

2013
No Overnight Camping, Hamilton Artists Inc., Hamilton ON (two-person)
The New Babylon Satellites, Lethbridge Library Gallery, Lethbridge AB (solo)
2012
Ice Follies: a biennial of contemporary site-specific art, North Bay ON (site-specific/group)
Unplanned Architecture, (curated by John Hampton) Neutral Ground, Regina SK (group)
2011
Les Choses Sont Contre Nous, AKA Artist Gallery Inc., Saskatoon SK (solo/collaboration)
GeNext@AGR, Group Exhibition Art Gallery of Regina, Regina SK (group)
2010
56th Annual Juried Member Show, Durham Art Guild, NC (group)
Combine, Harbourfront Centre - York Quay Centre, Toronto, ON (group)
Palanquin Park, Eastern Edge Gallery, St. John's NL (two-person)
Palanquin Park, Artspace Artist-Run Centre, Peterborough ON (solo)
2009
Reconstruction, Kenderdine / College Building Art Galleries, Saskatoon SK (solo)
Toy Soldiers, Forest City Gallery, London ON (three-person)
Institutionalized, Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, Saskatoon SK
2008
Natures Mortes: Recent Acquisitions, Gordon Snelgrove Gallery Collection, Saskatoon SK
Work'n It, Headbones Gallery, Toronto ON
2007
The 1950 Ford Show, (curator Anthony Easton) Art Gallery Of Alberta, Edmonton AB
Seasonull, Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, Saskatoon SK
What's Been Done, Artlab, University of Western Ontario ON
5 x 7, Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, Saskatoon SK
Modal Auxiliary, (MFA Graduating Exhibition) Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, Saskatoon SK
2006
175, OUTVIDEO festival, Moscow, Russia
Shoot It, Stuff It, Show It, Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, Saskatoon SK
2004/5
P.S., aceartinc, Winnipeg MB
Aesthetically Pleasing, GOSA Gallery, Winnipeg MB
College Pro - a painting exhibition, Outworks Gallery, Winnipeg MB

Associated Activities

2013/14 - Mentoring artist for: Galicia, RBC Artist by Artists Program, Mendel Art Gallery
2011 - The Brooklyn Art Library - The Sketchbook Project, Brooklyn NY
2010 - Eastern Edge Gallery - A is For ART Book, St. John's NL
2008 - Radio Free Banff - FM90 Broadcast, Heard Locations, The Banff Centre, AB

Residencies / Workshops

April 01, 2010 - April 30, 2010, NES Artist Residency, Skagastond, Iceland
January 03, 2010 - March 26, 2010, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont USA
July 6 - August 23, 2008, Figure in a Mountain Landscape, The Banff Centre, Banff AB
April 2 - 16, 2011, Open Source Audio I - III, (Arduino workshop) Paved Arts, Saskatoon SK

Invited Presentations - Artist Talks

2013 - No Overnight Camping, Hamilton Artists Inc., Hamilton ON
2012 - Unplanned Architecture, Neutral Ground, Regina SK
2011 - Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming (SCYAP) Inc.
2011 - Les Choses Sont Contre Nous, AKA Gallery, Saskatoon SK
2010 - Palanquin Park, Eastern Edge Gallery, St. John's NL
2009 - Reconstruction, Kenderdine / College Building Art Galleries, Saskatoon SK
2009 - Toy Soldiers, Forest City Gallery, London ON
2009 - Recent Work: AKA Artist Gallery Inc., Saskatoon SK
2008 - Residency presentation, Gordon Snelgrove Gallery, Saskatoon SK
2007 - Panel Discussion - What's Been Done, Artlab, University of Western Ontario ON

Press Reviews, Catalogue Entries and Exhibition Statements

2013 - Akimbo - Akimblog: Stephanie Vegh - February 26, 2013
2013 - No Overnight Camping, Hamilton Artists Inc., catalogue essay - Irene Loughlin
2012 - Grain Magazine - The Journal of Eclectic Writing, Artist feature (Vol.40 No.1 Fall)
2011 - AKA Gallery, Les Choses Sont Contre Nous, catalogue essay
2011 - Galleries West: Canada Exhibition Reviews - Les Choses Sont Contre Nous
2011 - CBC/Radio-Canada, Saskatchewan - Le Telejournal, January 13
2011 - War Of Objects At AKA Gallery, Meagen Thomas, Verb Magazine, January 7-13
2010 - Palanquin Park, Eastern Edge Gallery, Cliff Eyland - catalogue entry
2010 - Hipster Fairytales, Leah Sandals, National Post, Saturday, July 17
2009 - Love and War, Bart Gazzola, Planet S Magazine, Volume 8 Issue 3
2009 - Akimbo - Akimblog: Sky Glabush, April 15, 2009
2009 - New Sculpture Exhibit, Gail Jansen, Verb Magazine, December 4-10
2008 - Vast Prairie, Vast Exhibit, Bart Gazzola, Planet S Magazine
2008 - Work'n It Catalogue, Headbones Gallery, Julie Oakes, Rich Fog Micro Publishing
2006 - Behind the scenes show, Chris Morin, The Sheaf - volume 97, issue 22, February 2
2005 - Looking at Student Art, Gwen Armstrong, PaperWait Critical Distance, volume 10:5
2004 - 26/Two-Sicks/Too-Six, Cliff Eyland, Border Crossings, November, 16-27.

Grant Information

2012 - The Pollock-Krasner Foundation - Support Grant
2011 - Saskatchewan Arts Board - Independent Artist Grant
2010 - Saskatchewan Arts Board - Independent Artist Grant
2009/10 - Vermont Studio Center - Artist/Writer Grant
2009 - Saskatchewan Arts Board - Independent Artist Grant
2008 - The Banff Centre, Trevie and Arliss Miller Scholarship
2005/07 - Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of Saskatchewan

Committee and Community Contributions / Workshops Conducted

2013 - SomethingonSundays, Mechanics and Art, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon SK
2012/2013 - Database development: The New Gallery / John Snow House, Calgary AB
2010/12 - Fundraising Committee: AKA Gallery, Saskatoon SK
2009 - SomethingonSundays, Machines at Play, Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon SK
2009 - Clay workshop for teachers, Bishop Roborecki School, Saskatoon SK

Memberships

2013 - Truck Gallery, Calgary AB
2011 - current: Paved Arts, Saskatoon SK
2007 - current: AKA Gallery, Saskatoon SK
2005 - 2008: aceartinc. Winnipeg MB