Ouvrir sa gueuleResearch-creation - Jonathan Roy

In an exploratory approach, the process of research and creation starts from an experience on the ground, deeply rooted in daily life. Day after day, the artist studies what he sees, reads, perceives and understands all around him, both during his regular walks through Charleroi and on day trips that take him from one end of the region to the other: Liege, Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, Namur, Bruges, and so on.

On the basis of his observations, the innumerable words collected here and there, the artist produces works on paper in the form of printed and handwritten texts. Texts that ‘speak’ today’s language in all its forms and reflect its cultural significance, its characteristics and its current challenges in a tangible and sensitive way.

In the spirit of a work in progress, the works are deliberately left unfinished, open to further changes, always in movement. Just like palimpsests or works on a building site, they continue to transform, to grow from week to week, incorporating new observations from the artist and from interactions with the public. Especially at the centre of the space, where a huge sheet of paper has been unrolled on which the artist and visitors gradually add words, phrases and expressions in a multitude of languages.

So, the works will not reach their final form until the artist returns to Quebec, at the end of June. Meanwhile they develop and become consolidated with the participation of visitors, in a kind of collaborative creation. These papers and words ultimately retain a palpable trace of contemporary French and open up a renewed perspective on the linguistic diversity and plurality of our region.

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Opening with the artist in attendance on 19 May 2023
Studio opens and dynamic creation from 20 May to 21 June 2023
Return of the definitive works from 22 June to 27 August 2023

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Website of Jonathan Roy

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The residency is the result of a collaboration between the BPS22, the Centre Bang (Chicoutimi, Québec) and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.