Projet commun at the Plural 2024 Contemporary Art Fair

Projet commun creates opportunities for sharing ideas and collaborative work involving not only artists, curators and various cultural spaces, but also a heterogeneity of audiences. The exhibitions and works presented are thus enriched with multiple points of view. Projet commun pushes creation towards plural horizons in order to open visual arts to a broader community, including potential collectors.

If Orise Jacques-Durocher and Charlotte Guirestante Ghomeshi are exhibited by Projet commun it is in particular because their respective approach demonstrates great openness, lucidity and sensitivity towards others. While the first artist invites us to integrate her processual universe by imagining and designing 3D objects (sculptures, installations) which initiate dialogues around themes such as invisible work, the studio, the handmade and productivity in a society subject to the dictates of speed, the second invites us to immerse ourselves, using 2D media (photos, videos), at the heart of her multicultural reality, where we discover the richness of encounters between singular identities.

Inspired by the material and human life that animates us daily, their works encourage us to become aware of the potential offered by the diversity of our natural and cultural environment. Orise's experimental surface treatment technique, which involves, among other things, crushing completed sculptures in order to introduce them into the glaze recipes applied to the surface of her ceramics, causes the material to appear distorted. This counterproductive process leads us to think about the material, its preciousness and the manufacturing activity, initiating a conversation on disalienation with regard to objects around us. Charlotte's work, navigating universal psychological spaces, although created from personal experiences, provokes a deep reflection on identity which is based on the complex relationship she maintains with her mixed origins, Quebec, Iranian and Italian. Her poetic stagings, as intimate as they are, are transposed into our bodies and strengthen our capacity for empathy.

The values promoted by Projet commun are cultivated within the proposals of these two women artists, sensitive to their conditions of existence and to living together. They make us aware of the ecosystem in which we live and of the people around us. If Projet commun tends to build an inclusive, aware and more democratic environment, by involving in each of its initiatives a plurality of voices, including those of audiences less reactive to artistic offerings, Orise and Charlotte support the approach through their practice which is nourished both by others and by the space we inhabit collectively.  

As part of Projet commun’s participation in the Plural Contemporary Art Fair, we wanted to continue the work we are doing with members of the public. Although the short deadlines limited their involvement in this project, we had the opportunity to collaborate with Alexane Ferland, as a “public representative”. Her look, imbued with sincerity, was able to greatly enrich our proposal which, we hope, will awaken your curiosity and arouse your enthusiasm.