Push and Pull

Push and Pull

In the context of the Major Pierre Ayot retrospective
Curator : Nicolas Mavrikakis
October 15 – November 19, 2016
Pierre Ayot, Paterson Ewen, Denis Juneau, Stéphane La Rue, Guido Molinari, Alana Riley, Andrea Szilasi, Claude Tousignant, Julie Tremble
Pierre Ayot
Attention! Haute tension
1978
Serigraphy, metal
102 x 80 x 3.5 cm / 40.2 x 31.5 x 1.4 in
Pierre Ayot
Nœud coulant
1979
Serigraphy and rope
71 x 56 cm / 28 x 22 in
Pierre Ayot
Fil à plomb
1978
Serigraphy and white string
103 x 77 cm / 40.6 x 30.3 in
Pierre Ayot
Sans titre
Serigraphy on thermoformed plastic, wood
20 x 110 x 75 cm / 7.9 x 43.3 x 29.5 in
Pierre Ayot
Sans titre
1971
Serigraphy
40 x 30 cm / 15.7 x 11.8 in
Pierre Ayot
Sans titre
1971
Serigraphy
40 x 30 cm / 15.7 x 11.8 in
Pierre Ayot
Entendu que
1970
Serigraphy
101 x 67 cm / 39.8 x 26.4 in
Pierre Ayot
Sleeping Bag
1969
Serigraphy and wire
52.1 x 66.1 cm / 20.5 x 26 in
Pierre Ayot
Sleeping Bag
1969
Serigraphy and wire
52.1 x 66.1 cm / 20.5 x 26 in
Pierre Ayot
Sans titre
1973
Serigraphy
61 x 51 cm / 24 x 20.1 in
Pierre Ayot
Sans titre
1973
Serigraphy
112 x 51 cm / 44.1 x 20.1 in
Pierre Ayot
Séquence de trois
1971
Serigraphy and holes
101.5 x 76 cm / 40 x 29.9 in
Andrea Szilasi
Two Heads (colour)
2007
Collage
24 x 28 cm / 9.4 x 11 in
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Andrea Szilasi
Stripes
2005
Collage, mixed media
13 x 9.5 cm / 5.1 x 3.7 in
Julie Tremble
Sans Titre (Explosion no. 4)
2011
Ink jet print
62.2 x 39.7 cm / 24.5 x 15.6 in
Claude Tousignant
C-3
1978
Serigraphy
71.5 x 56.5 cm / 28.1 x 22.2 in
Pierre Ayot
Portrait de Gosselin
1981
Serigraphy
50 x 66 cm / 19.7 x 26 in
Pierre Ayot
Portrait de Madeleine Forcier
1982
Serigraphy
50 x 66 cm / 19.7 x 26 in
Pierre Ayot
Portrait de Wolfe
1982
Serigraphy
50 x 66 cm / 19.7 x 26 in
Pierre Ayot
Portrait d'Yves Gaucher
1982
Serigraphy
50 x 66 cm / 19.7 x 26 in
Pierre Ayot
Portrait d'Yvon Cozic
1980
Serigraphy
50 x 66 cm / 19.7 x 26 in
Pierre Ayot
Portrait de Serge Tousignant
1980
Serigraphy
50 x 66 cm / 19.7 x 26 in
Pierre Ayot
Portrait de Serge Lemoyne
1981
Serigraphy
50 x 66 cm / 19.7 x 26 in
Pierre Ayot
Portrait de Jean-Claude Pretre
1981
Serigraphy
50 x 66 cm / 19.7 x 26 in
Pierre Ayot
Six pieds deux, les yeux bleus
1977
Serigraphy
73 x 57 cm / 28.7 x 22.4 in
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« At Joyce Yahouda Gallery, the exhibition Push and Pull is one part of the major Pierre Ayot retrospective (1943-1995) that I organized in a number of venues [...]I want to turn the usual reading of Ayot’s practice inside out, like one would do with a pullover or with a sock, in order to show the ‘’seams’’ of his work.[...] In this exhibition titled Push and Pull,by exhibiting some of Ayot’s artworks alongside other works by artists from different generations, who are more openly associated with formalistic issues, the curator wish to highlight how Ayot also explored and provided an original reflection about an artwork’s materiality.» - Excerpt from the text of curator Nicolas Mavrikakis
« At Joyce Yahouda Gallery, the exhibition Push and Pull is one part of the major Pierre Ayot retrospective (1943-1995) that I organized in a number of venues [...]
I want to turn the usual reading of Ayot’s practice inside out, like one would do with a pullover or with a sock, in order to show the ‘’seams’’ of his work.[...]

In this exhibition titled Push and Pull,by exhibiting some of Ayot’s artworks alongside other works by artists from different generations, who are more openly associated with formalistic issues, the curator wish to highlight how Ayot also explored and provided an original reflection about an artwork’s materiality.» 
- Excerpt from the text of curator Nicolas Mavrikakis

Unabridged curator's text

« At Joyce Yahouda Gallery, the exhibition Push and Pull is one part of the major Pierre Ayot retrospective (1943-1995) that I organized in a number of venues: Grande bibliothèque of BAnQ, Guido Molinari Foundation, Graff Gallery and B-312 Gallery. Some of Ayot’s artworks are also exhibited at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and at the Joliette Museum.

Art critics and art historians often described Pierre Ayot as a maker of playful artworks and of intricate trompe-l’oeil. 

Strangely, Ayot has been less frequently analyzed from another perspective- that of ‘deconstructing’ representations. I want to turn the usual reading of Ayot’s practice inside out, like one would do with a pullover or with a sock, in order to show the ‘’seams’’ of his work. During his career, Ayot placed a certain emphasis on the elements making up the image and on their materiality. This is a quality that is usually attributed to abstract painters, like the Plasticians. In this exhibition titled Push and Pull, by exhibiting some of Ayot’s artworks alongside other works by artists from different generations, who are more openly associated with formalistic issues, I want to highlight how Ayot also explored and provided an original reflection about an artwork’s materiality.»

Press release