Valérie Blass – CV

Valérie Blass
b. 1967, Montreal, Canada
Lives and works in Montreal, Canada

Education

  • 2006 Master of Fine Arts, Visual and Media Arts, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada
  • 1998 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Visual Arts, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada

Selected Solo Exhibitions

  • 2023 This Is Not a Metaphor, Fonderie Darling, Montreal, Canada
  • 2021 Ce qui a été vu ne peut pas être dévu, Parc Offsite, Montreal, Canada
  • 2020 La poudre aux yeux: Of smoke in mirrors, Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver
  • 2019 Le parlement des invisibles, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
    The Mime, the Model and the Dupe, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada; Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
  • 2015 To only ever say one thing forever the same thing, Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver
    My Life, Artspeak, Vancouver; Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto, Canada
  • 2014 Théâtre d’objets, Parisian Laundry, Montreal, Canada
  • 2013 Parisian Laundry Projects, The Hole NYC, New York, USA
    Galeri Manâ, Istanbul, Turkey
    Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Canada
    The manipulator manipulated, La Chambre Blanche, Quebec City, Canada
  • 2012 Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Canada
    Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
  • 2011 Petit losange laqué veiné, Parisian Laundry, Montreal, Canada
  • 2009 Une fois de trop, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, Canada
    Dos-à-dos / Face-à-face, Foreman Art Gallery, Bishop’s University, Sherbrooke, Canada
  • 2008 La plus pure apparence, Parisian Laundry, Montreal, Canada
  • 2005 Elle-même, CIRCA Art Actuel, Montreal, Canada
    Presque ça, Galerie B-312, Montreal, Canada
  • 2001 Le regard des animaux, DARE-DARE – Centre de diffusion d’art multidisciplinaire de Montréal, Montreal, Canada

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2024 Saint-Laurent, Galerie Eli Kerr, Montreal, Canada
  • 2023 Masquerades: Drawn to Metamorphosis, MOMENTA Biennale de l’image, Montreal, Canada
  • 2022 C’était possible, Musée d'art contemporain des Laurentides, Saint-Jérôme, Canada
    Do Redo Repeat    , Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver
  • 2021 The sun is a ghost that haunts the night, Chapter 1: Dilithium, FUTURA, Prague, Czech Republic
    L'Âme primitive, Musée Zadkine, Paris, France
    New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century, University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, USA
    Two Truths and a Lie, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada
  • 2020 Quarante, Blouin Division, Montreal, Canada
  • 2019 J’aime le rose pâle et les femmes ingrates, Centre d’art contemporain d’Ivry – le Crédac, Ivry-sur-Seine, France
    Unexplained Parade, Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver
  • 2018 Travelogue, The School, Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, NY, USA
  • 2017 Canadian Biennial, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
    Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, Toronto, Canada
  • 2016 EXPANDED, Mana Contemporary Chicago, Chicago, USA
    Le Grand Balcon, La Biennale de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
    Superimposition: Sculpture and Image, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg, Canada
    From Ferron to BGL: Contemporary Art in Quebec, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec City, Canada
    The Green of Her, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada
    MashUp: The Birth of Modern Culture, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver
    Stranger, Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, Cleveland, USA
  • 2015 Unsafe at any speed, 820Plaza, Montreal, Canada
    Talking Back, Otherwise, Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
    HA HA! BUSINESS!, Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles, USA
    Oh, Canada: Contemporary Art from North North America, Esker Foundation, Calgary, Canada
  • 2014 Les Rassembleurs/The Convenors, MKG127, Toronto, Canada
    1 + 1 = 1, The collections of the Musée des beaux-arts and of the Musée d’art contemporain converse, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
  • 2013 The Intellection of Lady Spider House, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
    Traces of Life, Wentrup Gallery, Berlin, Germany
    Configurations, Public Art Fund, Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, USA
    Oh, Canada: Contemporary Art from North North America, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA, USA
  • 2012 Freedom of Assembly, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada
    Parisian Laundry: Summertime in Paris, Drake Lab, Toronto, Canada
    Collection Tedeschi, Parisian Laundry, Montreal, Canada
  • 2011 Chimère / Shimmer, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec, Canada
    It Is What It Is: Recent Acquisitions of New Canadian Art, Canadian Biennial, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
  • 2010 La terre est bleue comme une orange, Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
  • 2009 Nothing to Declare: Current Sculpture from Canada, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto, Canada
    Unbelievable and Marvelous, 27th International Symposium of Contemporary Art, Baie-Saint-Paul, Canada
    The Way I Are, Blackwood Gallery, Mississauga, Canada
  • 2008 The Quebec Triennial: Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
  • 2007 Somme, La Vitrine, Centre Est-Nord-Est, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Canada
  • 2006 Archipel, Parisian Laundry, Montreal, Canada
    Jumelages: L’espace et son double, Maison de la culture Plateau Mont-Royal, Montreal, Canada
  • 1999 Salon de l’agglomérat, Galerie Clark, Montreal, Canada
  • 1998 Les Bricolos, Galerie Clark, Montreal, Canada
  • 1996 Printemps Plein Temps, Galerie de l’UQÀM, Montreal, Canada

Selected Publications and Catalogues

  • 2021 Aspara DiQuinzio, ed., New Time: Art and Femininisms in the 21st Century, University of California, Berkeley, USA
  • 2016 Jill Snyder and Rose Bouthillier, Stranger, MOCA Cleveland, Cleveland, USA
  • 2012 Lesley Johnstone, Amelia Jones, Paulette Gagnon, and Wayne Baerwaldt, Valérie Blass, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal, Canada
  • 2011 Loin des yeux, près du corps. Entre théorie et création, Galerie de l’UQÀM, Montreal, Canada
  • 2010 Anne-Marie Ninacs, Chimère / Shimmer, Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, Quebec City, Canada
    Josée Drouin-Brisebois, ed., It Is What It Is: Recent Acquisitions of New Canadian Art, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
  • 2009 Jeanie Riddle, Helena Reckitt, and jake moore, Valérie Blass, Parisian Laundry, Montreal, Canada
    Geneviève Chevalier, Jeux de rôles et de hasards, Foreman Art Gallery, Bishop’s University, Sherbrooke, Canada
  • 2008 Josée Bélisle, Paulette Gagnon, Mark Lanctôt and Pierre Landry, Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal, Canada

Magazines and Periodicals

  • 2023 Francois Lemieux, ‘Deux nouvelles œuvres d’art pour le centre-ville’, Journal Métro, 25 January
  • 2020 Anaïs Castro, ‘Valérie Blass: La poudre aux yeux’, Esse, 100, 11 September
    Éric Clément, ‘La machine redémarre’, La Presse, 13 June
  • 2019 ‘Sculptural greatness you can’t miss’, AGO Insider, 26 November
    Yaniya Lee, Brittany Shepherd, ‘In the Studio with Valérie Blass’, Canadian Art, 7 November
    Sky Goodden, ‘Valérie Blass Makes Figurative Sculptures without the Figure’, Art in America, 29 October
    Kimberly Huynh Nguyen, ‘Valérie Blass grounds the abstract in reality’, The Medium, 15 September
    Ji-Yoon Han, ‘Le parlement des invisibles: un entretien avec Valérie Blass’, Espace, Issue 123, Autumn
    Aidan Dunne, ‘Valérie Blass: Figurative fragments of a double-life world’, The Irish Times, 9 July
    Chris Hampton, ‘Laugh at this Valérie Blass’ sculpture in Toronto, sure, but take it seriously’, Toronto Star, 7 June
    Dan Adler, ‘Valérie Blass’, Artforum, April
    ‘What to See in 2019’, Canadian Art, 2 January
  • 2018 Robert Enright and Meeka Walsh, ‘Inspirational Embodiments: The Incomparable Sculpture of Valérie Blass’, Border Crossings, Issue 148
  • 2017 Debra Yeo, ‘Valérie Blass wins 2017 Gershon Iskowitz Prize’, The Toronto Star, 21 November
    ‘Valérie Blass Wins $50,000 Gershon Iskowitz Prize’, Canadian Art online, 20 November
    Xenia Benivolski, ‘Le Grand Balcon, BNLMTL, 2016’, C Magazine, Issue 133, Spring
    Jens Hoffmann, ‘The Biennale de Montréal’, Artforum, February
  • 2016 Nicole Yeba, ‘Valérie Blass Prix Ozias-Leduc 2016’, My Scena, 9 December
    Claire Voon, ‘The Sly Excess of the 2016 Montréal Biennale’, Hyperallergic, 25 October
    Steven Leyden Cochrane, ‘Layers of meaning: Group show highlights eight female artists, toys with with our perception’, Winnipeg Free Press, 20 October
    John Pohl, ‘The Montreal Biennial will be seen from the “balcony”’, Montreal Gazette, 9 October
    Gary Pearson, ‘Valérie Blass’, Sculpture, Vol. 35, No. 4, May
    Karina Irvine, ‘Valérie Blass Pushes Figuration at Catriona Jeffries Gallery’, Canadian Art, 4 January
  • 2015 Helena Wadsley, ‘Valérie Blass’, Galleries West, 3 December
    Christina Nafziger, ‘Valérie Blass Reimagines the Human Figure by Abstracting its Structure and Space’, Beautiful Decay, 13 August
    Bill Clarke, ‘Valérie Blass at Daniel Faria’, Artnews, 15 July
    Murray Whyte, ‘Jennifer Murphy and Valérie Blass: Deluxe redux’, The Toronto Star, 20 April
    Wojciech Olejnik, ‘Valérie Blass is both accessible and locked-up in “My Life”’, MOMUS, 19 April
    Dominique Froment, ‘La Caisse de dépôt cible la crème des artistes québécois’, Les Affaires, 18 April
    Marina Dumont, ‘Valérie Blass or the Re-appropriation of the Gaze’, Artoronto.ca, 1 April
    Michael Turner, ‘Gesture Dominates in Valérie Blass’ “My Life”’, Canadian Art, 9 February
  • 2014 André-Constantin Passiour, ‘Sous les boules roses, l’art vert et l’art brute’, Fugues, 16 June
    Tina Gelsomini, ‘Profile of the artist: Valérie Blass’, The Seen, 14 March
    Gabrielle Regimba, ‘Valérie Blass à voir absolument’, MODE34B, 7 February
    Gabrielle Mathieu, ‘Du mensonge de la représentation. Théâtres d’objets de Valérie Blass’, L’Artichaut, 2 February
    Rosie Long Decter, ‘Geometry, granite, distorted bodies’, The McGill Daily, 27 January
    Eric Clément, ‘Valérie Blass à la Parisian Laundry: la quête’, La Presse, 18 January
  • 2013 Claire Moeder, ‘Valérie Blass: Équilibrisme’, Zone Occupee, 13 December
    Roberta Smith, ‘Valérie Blass’, The New York Times, 21 November
    Sky Goodden, ‘Valérie Blass Fills the Hole in NYC’, Blouin Artinfo, 16 November
    Bettie Nin, ‘Valérie Blass’, Critique d’art, 1 November
    Josianne Desloges, ‘Les marionettes de Valérie Blass’, Le Soleil, 13 April
  • 2012 Sky Goodden, Benjamin Sutton, ‘Public Art Fund Curator Talks Valérie Blass: “There is a Freedom In Her Creative Process”’, Blouin Artinfo, 5 December
    R.M. Vaughan, ‘Valérie Blass’s sexy beasts’, The Globe and Mail, 29 June
    Sky Goodden, ‘Curators of Valérie Blass Show Marvel “She’s Rarely Shown in this Capacity”’, Blouin Artinfo, 6 June
    Anja Bock, ‘Valérie Blass, Musée d’art contemporain, Art Papers, May-June
    Bernard Lévy, ‘Valérie Blass, artiste révoltée’, Vie des Arts, Vol. 56, No. 226, Spring
    Leah Sandals, ‘Valérie Blass: Going all out’, Canadian Art, 1 March
    Gabrielle Moser, ‘Valérie Blass’, Artforum, 12 February
    Annie Li, ‘Une Montréalaise, deux Africaines, trois féministes’, Le Délit, 7 February
  • 2011 Lee Henderson, ‘Valérie Blass’, The Walrus, 12 November
    James D. Cameron, ‘The Debris of the Aura: Valérie Blass at Parisian Laundry’, Éphémère, No. 93, June–September
    Barry Schwabsky, ‘Valérie Blass’, Artforum, Summer
    Nathalie Petrowski, ‘Valérie Blass: le mélange des genres’, La Presse, 11 January
  • 2009 ‘Valérie Blass: Object Lessons’, Canadian Art, 10 September
    Leah Sandals, ‘Valérie Blass: Particle Collider’, Canadian Art, 1 September
    Cameron Skene, ‘Valérie Blass’, Canadian Art, 1 March
    Nate Archer, ‘Valérie Blass: une fois de trop’, designboom, 18 February
  • 2005 Jean-Ernest Joos, ‘Le poids de l’infigurable’, Esse, No. 55, Autumn
    Nicolas Mavrikakis, ‘Valérie Blass et Frédéric Lavoie: Le bruit des choses vivantes’, Voir, 27 January
  • 2002 Bernard Schütze, ‘Valérie Blass: Inverser le regard’, Espace Art actuel, No. 60, Summer

Residencies

  • 2018 Triangle France, Marseille, France
  • 2017 Banff Artist in Residence (BAiR), Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, Banff, Canada
  • 2013 Production Residency, La Chambre Blanche, Quebec City, Canada
    Production Residency, L’écart – lieu d’art actuel, Rouyn-Noranda, Canada
  • 2014 Artist-in-Residence, Christoph Merian Stiftung, Basel, Switzerland
  • 2014 Unbelievable and Marvelous, 27th International Symposium of Contemporary Art, Baie-Saint-Paul, Canada

Awards

  • 2017 Gershon Iskowitz Prize, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
  • 2016 Prix Ozias-Leduc, Fondation Émile-Nelligan, Montreal, Canada
  • 2012 Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award, Visual Arts, Canada Council for the Arts
  • 2010 Prix Louis-Comtois, City of Montreal, Montreal, Canada