This project was presented at CIRCA art actuel from January 16 to March 1 2025. While the study of materiality and the traces of process have fuelled Chloé Desjardins’ work for a number of years, in her exhibition called _formes_ [shapes], this is expressed in a shift of the represented object, making  a change from being utilitarian to becoming an artwork. When Chloé Desjardins reproduces packaging, tools, raw materials, furniture and architectural elements, she makes visible the production context and the structures for presenting artworks, which are usually hidden or inaccessible. For the exhibition, she turned her attention to elements that have the function of holding, retaining or maintaining an object. Their purpose? To exert a tensile force that prevents any movement or change, but also rendering something static or fixed. These are clamps, hinges, door wedges and electrical insulators. Although the first two have been patiently shaped by hand, the other two have been cast. Because they are made of porcelain, the works disturb the perception we have of the materials. In the artist’s work, the fragility and delicacy of porcelain interferes with the strength and solidity of the object represented. There’s no denying that the meaning of these objects borders on the seemingly anecdotal: some are easily forgotten because they are outdated, others, so commonplace, are at the point of invisibility. Moreover, the physical treatment of the works is all the more important because it accentuates the “forgotten” aspect of the object, or the invisible nature of the process. Indeed, the clay used is not coloured. It has a natural grayish whiteness, evoking the colour of concrete, gypsum board cement, plaster and so on. At the same time, the colour has a spectral effect that calls for the evanescence, not of the object, but of its utilitarian function. Then disappearance gives way  to appearance. The object is multiplied; in the plural, it gives rise to a motif, a sequence, a landscape. These four landscapes of sculpture grace the walls of the gallery, in a rigorous arrangement. More precisely, we see they are bas-reliefs, not of traditional ornamentation  or iconography, but of production objects. The absurdity of the situation, undeniably ironic, is obvious. This shows just how much the artist enjoys playing with contradictions. In addition to the bas-reliefs, new walls modify the space. These are not made of gypsum, but of cardboard. What could be more paradoxical than to play on the porous boundaries between the fragile and the solid, the ephemeral and the permanent! The artist has created almost minimalist, visual poetry. Looking at the exhibition overall, there is an abstraction of both the form and the identity of the objects that places us in a zone of uncertainty and makes us slow down. As a result, Chloé Desjardins presents us with a space to think about the personal and symbolic value of objects and their evocative potential in a narrative of contrasts. -Text by Émilie Granjon


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formes [shapes]

Exhibition

With a kitsch intention, through the heterogeneous use of old-fashioned, popular, and generally industrially produced elements, the artist explores the tension between the familiar and the strange, mastery and clumsiness, as well as the relationship of authority between modern simplicity and the decorative (often considered old-fashioned or in bad taste). Thanks to a series of “bas-reliefs” – kinds of pastiches of decorative wall elements: moulding, console, wall light, shelf, display, frame, support, etc. –, it features motifs reminiscent of the domestic world and the personal recreational collection. The reflection on the value and status of the pieces presented inside the set is reinforced by the use of materials and patterns close to interior finishing and decoration such as molding and mosaic. This individual exhibition was presented at the Maison de la culture Marcel-Robidas in Longueuil from February 2 to May 5, 2024.

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Chiaroscuro

Catalog of the exhibition Encounters, presented at the Musée d’art de Joliette (MAJ) from June 19 to September 6, 2021. Chloé Desjardins asked Museum employees to describe their links with an object from the MAJ collection from which she created new works of art, thus weaving a conceptual web of referents that is both rich and innovative. This publication brings together an essay by Patrice Loubier, an interview between Chloé Desjardins and curator Anne-Marie Saint-Jean Aubre, exhibition views and all the documents associated with the project presented at the Musée d’art de Joliette in 2021. The preface is signed by Jean-François Bélisle, then director of the MAJ. The publication, composed in Switzerland Int'l and in Frame, was printed in 300 copies on Munken Lynx paper. Printing was completed on the KOPA presses in Biruliškės on behalf of the Musée d’art de Joliette. Graphic design by Zoé Brunelli, Studio de Mars. The publication is available in bookstores.

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Catalog: Encounters

Publication

The artwork _Perspective_ is made of a steel frame, multiplied and then offset horizontally in space. The four sections of the structure are connected by perpendicular segments, creating a three-dimensional grid. The abstract frontal pattern evokes perspective drawing and the notion of direction. The work has two distinct sides. The first, visible from the perception area, features a two-tone dark granite mosaic and a brass pattern. The second, visible from the platforms, uses the same pattern, but colored with the distinctive bright orange-red of the station's accents. The concept of the work is based on the opposition between transparency and opacity, as well as on certain principles experimented by the famous German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, whose international style inspired the architect of the Jolicoeur station, Claude Boucher. It gradually reveals its different facets to travelers passing through the station.

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Perspective

Public art

When the [Musée d’art de Joliette](https://www.museejoliette.org/en/expositions/chloe-desjardins/) invited her to create work based on the collection, Desjardins turned to the Musée’s staff members and their inherent curiosity to provide the spark for her artistic process; delegating, so to speak, the task of making the initial gesture for her new body of work. The participants selected and described several objects from the collection, which Desjardins responded to by creating twelve works that were conceived as a series of conversations. By doing so, she insists on making collaboration a central element of her process. This body of work takes roots in the transposition that stemmed from her interpretation of each description, her exploration of the materiality of the chosen objects, and her research on the artists behind these works. It was also informed by her interest in revealing little-known aspects of the collection, namely the storage of art works in the museum’s vaults, thus drawing attention to the constant care they require. — Anne-Marie St-Jean Aubre


Image from the project "Rencontres" by Chloe Desjardins

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Encounters

This series of in situ interventions was presented at the Musée d'art de Joliette (MAJ) as part of the exhibition “Rencontres”. Chloe Desjardins was interested in the building of the MAJ and its history. We have Father Wilfred Corbeil to thank for the first building, inaugurated in 1976, whose original structure still exists today. Inspired by the work of Le Corbusier and traditional church architecture, Corbeil created a model that led to the construction of the museum. The building was renovated in 1985 and in 1992, transforming and adapting its spaces to better meet the new needs of the growing institution. Following another major renovation, the current incarnation of the MAJ reopened in 2015, and is a manifestation of its yearning for openness. A structure that evokes the pulpit that was once built into the staircase and markings made by Desjardins on each floor draw attention to the building’s history and the modifications that have been brought to it over time. — Anne-Marie St-Jean Aubre

Image from the project "Archive" by Chloe Desjardins

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Intervention

This publication accompanies the exhibition _Scaffoldings_ by artist Chloe Desjardins presented at the Salle Alfred-Pellan of the Maison des arts de Laval from February 18 to April 22, 2018. Text by Katrie Chagnon: “L’étaiement précaire de la création". Graphic design: Atelier Mille Mille. Embossed cover. 250 copies stamped and printed. _Clearface_ and _Post Grotesk_ fonts. Publisher: Salle Alfred-Pellan. It is available online (in french) [here](https://strapi-uploads-chloe-desjardins-live.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/Publication_Echafaudages_7bf1e7c4f8.pdf?updated_at=2022-10-26T23:22:58.648Z). The text in english is available [here](https://strapi-uploads-chloe-desjardins-live.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/Text_Scaffolding_b30b07e846.pdf?updated_at=2022-10-30T01:45:39.321Z).

Image from the project "Opuscule/Échafaudage" by Chloe Desjardins

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Booklet: Scaffoldings

Temporary structure that serves as a support in the construction of buildings, a scaffolding understood in the metaphorical sense also designates a complex assembly of elements, or even what supports a system in a more or less stable way. In this exhibition presented at Maison des arts de Laval, Desjardins invests the formal and conceptual potential of scaffolding in order to question the fragile interdependence between the artwork and the artistic institution. Literally, the sculptural elements depend on the structure of the space to support themselves. In return, they seem to support the gallery. The pieces are arranged in such a way as to delimit an interior and exterior space. Through an installation representing adjustable support posts in plaster – these industrial structural elements, here reproduced in an artisanal way in a fragile material – the artist presents an installation where coexists multiple references to architecture, the figure of the column and the history of sculpture. – Katrie Chagnon


Image from the project "Échafaudage" by Chloe Desjardins

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Scaffoldings

Series of works around paper as material, image and container; exploring themes of the blank page, imperfection, equivalence and exchange.

Image from the project "Papier" by Chloe Desjardins

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Paper

Series

Recipient of the 2014 _Plein sud honorary award_, Chloe Desjardins presented the exhibition _Reflexion_, at Plein sud from May 23 to July 4, 2015. Text by Jérôme Delgado: “Mirage, me trompe-tu? (English translation by Donald McGrath: "Mirage: Are You Deceiving Me?"). Plein sud edition. You can get the publication [here](https://plein-sud.org/edition/en/booklets/20-chloe-desjardins-reflexion.html) or read the text by Jérôme Delgado [here](https://strapi-uploads-chloe-desjardins-live.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/Text_Delgado_Reflexion_en_df22207bac.pdf?updated_at=2022-10-29T21:22:23.489Z).

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Booklet: Reflexion

Chloé Desjardins has a particular interest in sculpture, shapes and materials, with a marked predilection for casting and moulding, a technique that allows her to reproduce common or generic objects, sometimes resulting from industrial mass production. This choice then raises the question of the value of the object and its uniqueness. A choice that also confronts preconceived ideas about the status of artwork. The sculpture-objects of the artist are staged in compliance with museum exhibition conventions that apply more particularly to sculptures. On the one hand, these institutional codes of presentation amplify the idealization of the work, and on the other hand, place them in a deliberate mode of seduction. In her exhibition at Plein sud, the artist takes this strategy to another level by placing each work facing its double, inverted like a reflection in a mirror. – Jérôme Delgado


Image from the project "Réflexion" by Chloe Desjardins

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Reflexion

This installation was presented in the exhibition _Orderly objects/Unbuilt spaces_ with artist Simon Rochon at FOFA Gallery. _Masterpiece_ depicts four life-size scaffolds around an empty space. Its title and making refer to a tradition relating to the Renaissance; era that saw the birth of the great aesthetic canons of Art history. This device is usually used to build monumental sculptures, except here there is nothing to erect. The structure somewhat becomes the matrix of a potential artwork. Entirely done in wood and assembled with handmade wood joints, this piece embodies many paradoxes. Indeed, scaffolding, which is usually a temporary construction is presented as a permanent artwork. The work is carefully made and finished to amplify the doubt about what is given to see. The scaffolding thus possesses the double identity of object and support, of a positive and negative space at the same time.


Image from the project "Chef-d'oeuvre" by Chloe Desjardins

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Masterpiece

Chloe Desjardins explores with this project the universe and the symbolism associated with the artist's studio. Representations of fixtures such as a worktable, tools, materials and reproductions of casting moulds reflexively turn the material process of sculptural creation back on itself. Together these works create a microcosm, independent of time and reality, which serves as a meditation on both the creative process and the germination of artistic ideas and forms. However, a deliberate formal blurring makes it difficult to ascertain how the works are made or what precisely they represent. Rather than a continuous narrative, an assorted collection of forms, processes and materials is presented here; all white—almost ghostly—the works are less a representation of specific physical forms, and more a materialization of the idea of such forms. Originally presented at the Maison de la culture du Plateau Mont-Royal, the exhibition was presented at Birch Contemporary Gallery in Toronto in 2015.


Image from the project "L'Atelier du sculpteur" by Chloe Desjardins

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The sculptor's studio

The elements of this collection originally presented at Verdun cultural centre were inspired by the plates of the _Encyclopédie_ ou _Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers_, directed by Diderot & d'Alembert from 1751 to 1765. Born from the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment, this ambitious project brings together a considerable body of knowledge on the state of the natural sciences, trades and liberal arts as practised at the time, including sculpture which comprises 24 plates. The work _192 Objects from l'Encyclopédie_ actually brings together 192 porcelain tools (as represented in the encyclopedia) shaped by hand and made during a creation residency at the Banff Center. The work is now part of the Montreal art collection. 


Image from the project "Une Collection" by Chloe Desjardins

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A Collection

This series of artworks around the figures of the packaging and the pedestal was presented in 2013 as part of several group exhibitions. “Shapelessness belongs to a category of concepts that are fleeting, hard to define, not to say ambivalent. Naming shapelessness is naming the inexpressible; it is unveiling what seems, in principal, indistinguishable. Far from dogmatic speeches on the limits between figurative and abstract art, contemporary artists seem more preoccupied by the ambiguity between the alike and the unalike, between the visible and the invisible. This ambivalence between shape and shapelessness is part of a will of reconciliation between the known and the unknown, between the meaning and the absence of meaning.” — Fred Laforge (Ambivalence: shape and shapelessness/SAS Gallery)


Image from the project "Emballage et socle" by Chloe Desjardins

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Packaging and pedestal

To create this corpus of plaster casts presented at B-312 Gallery, the artist resorted to everyday objects, often industrial or manufactured, but which acquire a new presence when iterated through other materials. By this simple operation of transmutation of the material, a gap is created that recalls how much sculpture stages and places its subject at a distance. Simultaneously, these objects embody several paradoxes: familiar shapes that one would like to touch, become inaccessible, frozen in matter; unique works are developed from a copying technique. Placed on plinths of varying sizes or protected behind Plexiglass cases, these objects highlight the codes and conventions governing the appreciation of a work of art. The artist questions the presence, the status and the effect of these devices in contextualization of the works. — Mathieu Menard

Image from the project "Quelque chose" by Chloe Desjardins

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Something

Presented at the Exhibition and exploration centre of the Master's degree in visual and media arts at UQAM (CDEx), _Counter-Motive_ is Chloe Desjardins MFA thesis show. This series of objects explores the idea of the impenetrability of the artwork: boxes that do not open, solid and opaque packaging, windows that prevent touching. The elements of this series are defined both in relation to artistic conventions and to a vocabulary constructed from ordinary objects and handling materials. The choice to use pedestals and showcases as devices amplifies the contrasts between the banal and the precious. The objects are highlighted by these displays, but their reading is blurred. The various material transformations and the displacement caused by the positioning of incongruous objects in a gallery context do not allow to get a precise idea of what is given to see.


Projects