Stuff Seen - Galerie Attakus

Howdy!



B

This summer Montreal is going to be comix central, or if you prefer ground zero for bande dessinée. Not only will there be this exhibit starting in May that will be a celebration and a memorial at the same time. But there is going to be this exhibit that I haven't seen yet that I think is likely to give Ms. Gilbert a run for her money. And then if you're really into the drawing, there's Galerie Attakus.

Back last year, I sort of got annoyed when Voir reviewed Galerie Attakus like it was a real art gallery, when it seemed to me like it was a store. But I sort of stewed silently and to myself instead of going public because I figured I'd have a way better time railing against Voir and their means towards getting as much cash as possible after going to see Galerie Attakus.

So at some point on a cold day in February I trundled over. For folk who are interested, it is not in the building that houses Galerie Clark, nor is it in the Building that houses Galerie Diagonale, or any of the other artist run centres around de Gaspe. The address in case you did not want to get lost is 5333 Casgrain, #603.

Anyhows, I was dutifully impressed when I walked in the door (after finding it) basically it is a showroom pretty much designed to sell 12 inch 3-D reproductions of various pop culture charachters. And like anyone who has seen stuff that Todd McFarlane makes they can be pretty darn impressive. Especially when they are on your desk.

But screw the tiny models of women wearing next to nothing. What's wicked cool are the drawings on the walls. I don't have enough of a background to know the ins and outs of which cartoon (or bande dessinée) the stuff came from, however, taking them out of context and throwing them into frames is a great thing. Making them larger (as originals usually are) than your standard issue comic book is fabulous - you can actually see the what and the how or stuff being made.

I don't know if they are going to continue doing specific exhibits or (as I guess they are likely to do) will after a while just resort to the simpler thing of being a showroom for some dolls built for geeks, but the stuff that they had on the walls rocked, and I hope that they continue to show stuff on the walls, and I am looking forward to comparing their walls to those of the Saidye Bronfman Centre's last exhibit and that of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.