About Gail Bourgeois

Artist statement

In my studio drawing practice, I consider systems of control in their material and psychological presence. Researching iconic representations of 1950’s cold war America focuses my concern with the larger consequences of human violence. I see with double vision: then and now. Gliding one lens over the other, I find a locus for creating a new series of works. My art pieces are made to be experienced in gallery exhibitions, where I combine my drawings with small-scale objects that I make or find.

In addition to my studio practice, I am engaged in a multi-year project titled Ensemble Nomad.e. We are two artists who make works that emerge from the specificity of sites near a body of water. In our collective work, Ensemble Nomad.e seeks to face creatively the social climate of the current ecological crisis. Through a feminist lens, our work shifts personal grief into political agency. Our intention is to practise slowing down by listening to and learning from natural networks and the human activity of our local bioregions.

Bio

Gail Bourgeois is a founding member of Powerhouse Gallery (La Centrale, Montréal). Invited to engage with the Firestone Collection of Canadian Art, she presented a research based solo exhibition at the Ottawa Art Gallery (catalogue essay, Rebecca Basciano, 2016). In 2013-2014, she was invited to be the inaugural artist-in-residence at the Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum, where she prepared her exhibition To Warn Other Canadians (catalogue essay, Marcia Lea, 2014). Previous solo exhibitions include: Incidental things, Research-in-Art Project Room (publication essay, Petra Halkes, 2011) and Particle Factor, IPO Gallery (publication essay, Natasha Mazurka, 2008). In 2016, new works were presented in a two-person exhibition titled Stories Nearby at the Karsh-Masson Gallery (publication essay, Nancy Baele, 2016). In 2018, she presented Accommodating the details in a solo exhibition, Byward Market Gallery, Ottawa School of Art (catalogue essay, Sheena Gourlay) and Morse Code Project with Pira Pirani, Shenkman Arts Centre, Ottawa. Gail Bourgeois holds an MFA from Concordia University (Montréal, Québec) and has been shown professionally since 1985.