Freakydeak Montreal Chique

Abraham Brainin, Sylvie Bouchard, Nadine Faraj, Eliza Griffiths, Jim Holyoak, Mathieu Lacroix, Nadine Maher, Tess Martens, Evangelos Michelis, Rebecca Munce, Bea Parsons, Eric Paulino, Matt Shane, Lorraine Simms, Yves Tessier

Underdonk is overwhelmed with pride to present Freakydeak Montreal Chique, a group show of Montreal-based, centric, or originating artists. These folks work in darkly surreal, weirdo expressive, and oddball conceptual styles, as befitting the denizens of such an ecstatic, spooky, sexy place. North America is home to two towns that are referred to as “Sin City”: Vegas, and Montréal. Both are suffused with legal gambling, wild nightlife, and outlaw adult industries, but the bleu capital of the northeast carries an old-world threat to it, just below the surface - alongside its world-famous cuisine (including the best-in-the-world bagels, NYC). Its low-rent laid-backness is balanced out by a flipside, searing emotional intensity, which isn’t even a paradox although some people might think so. Montreal is like a colder, prettier, smaller version of New York, plus a large dollop of Paris, with a light dash of “Canada” getting in there too... but not really very much “Canada”. It’s as if New York City married Paris, had a child that then was divided by three instead of two, which determined its nature and scale: voila, Montreal. It’s a romantic hub, a dreamy nightmare of a place, a fashion centre and party town, physically closer to The Big Apple than Buffalo, straight up I-87, just past the Adirondacks. NYC and Mtl should really see more of each other, if not outright go home together, winking as they are from across the mountains, and this exhibition is one great way to experience some of that, in The City That Never Sleeps. Montreal, by contrast, does sleep - during the day. This is a show of gloaming dusk to rosy dawn artworks, with plenty of darkened and fearsome witching hour in there.

These works will never be brought all together again. Kind of too bad, too, don't you think, given their mutual relevancy, surprises, shocks, and sweet tendency to poetically whisper, one to another. If you just want the apocalypse to lighten up and be more fun, then Freakydeak Montreal Chique is for you, if not a move to the second biggest island in the Saint Lawrence river.

Each of these artists possesses a mature schtick, a sincerely dishonest magically true style of their own, that they discovered either by accident or through hard work. Or both.

Have a good look, get hypnotized, and enjoy the freak out!