The Middle of the Air

For Dumontier’s second solo exhibition with the gallery, the artist presents a series of simplified forms which are animated by economical interventions that reverberate with wit and charm. The works encompass and combine drawing, sculpture, painting and collage. Often a single line tells the story: a bisected bottle suggests both its contents and the sea that it has been cast adrift on. Elsewhere a fold or a crack or a break provides the minimal narrative. In one suite of works a needle and thread create quiet disruptions on the page. The line is both gestural and incisive, and the works display a tension between the artists’ refined sense of play and remarkable restraint.

Michael Dumontier co-founded The Royal Art Lodge collective in 1996 and continued as one of the three remaining members with Marcel Dzama and Neil Farber from 2003 until they officially concluded the RAL in 2008. He continues to work with Farber, meeting every Wednesday to collaborate on paintings and drawings. In 2011, Drawn and Quarterly published their book Constructive Abandonment. He has collaborated with numerous other artists, including Tom Elliott, Todd Martin, and Micah Lexier, as well as being a part of Paul Butler and Guy Maddin’s Keyhole Experiment. Throughout, Dumontier has continued to work independently and has presented solo exhibitions in New York, Boston, and Padua, Italy. He currently has a major solo exhibition at the Plug In Institute for Contemporary Art in Winnipeg and has works included in the exhibition, Read All Over at Toronto’s Scrap Metal. The Royal Art Lodge has had solo exhibitions in New York (The Drawing Center), Toronto (Power Plant), Los Angeles (MOCA), Dublin, Madrid, Brussels, Burgos, London, and produced a major commission for the 2008 Liverpool Biennial. Dumontier’s work is held in international private and public collections, including The National Gallery of Canada, The Vancouver Art Gallery, Folkwang Museum, FRAC Picardie, Fondation Antoine de Galbert, and Centro de Arte Caja de Burgos.