Isolate in Style

I have been thinking a lot during these times of crisis. Many artists have used social media to give access to their art, while others decided not to fall under the pressure of presenting all the time. Both points are valid.

When thinking about how I wanted to present the work of artists whose exhibition is either locked inside the gallery or postponed due to this quarantine, I realize that what matters to me the most is the precarious community of artists and cultural workers. During these times, I feel very overwhelmed: I see art institutions in the city offering online programming, being active online, and I feel left behind. I assume this sense of powerlessness is felt by artists and curators whose works are locked inside, somewhere, whose projects have been cancelled, or who are simply not able to easily go through a day.

I decided to invite the current locked in artists (Véronique Chagnon Côté, Ludovic Cléroux, Steven Smith Simard, Lauren Chipeur), as well as the artists from the next scheduled exhibitions (Frédérique Laliberté, Eugene Park, Mylène Raiche) to write a brief creative text about how they are feeling during this time, their feelings about art, and what kind of changes they wish to see for the art world during and after the virus.

We will publish these texts on a weekly basis on our newsletter until the currently scheduled end of the quarantine (May 1st). Hopefully when this is all over, we can learn something about ourselves in (and) society, and all meet face to face to embrace, cheer and have fun.

Aside from working at home, I have been spending part of my time in isolation convincing my husband to get a Whippet dog; I also started running again. What have you been doing during these times to make sure you are ok?

Take good care of yourself and until next time, stay safe, and isolate in style

Eunice Bélidor, FOFA Gallery director