‘Julie Tremblay: Unpacked’ at Ann Street

Posted 4/3/19

Safe Harbors Ann Street Gallery presents its newest exhibition Julie Tremblay: Unpacked, with an opening reception on Saturday, April 6 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the …

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‘Julie Tremblay: Unpacked’ at Ann Street

Posted

Safe Harbors Ann Street Gallery presents its newest exhibition Julie Tremblay: Unpacked, with an opening reception on Saturday, April 6 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

For those unaware of this world-renowned artist, newly situated in our local community and the Hudson Valley, this retrospective presents an unparalleled opportunity for visitors to make a personal connection with Tremblay’s art, practice and development throughout the past two decades.

Julie Tremblay was born in Québec City, Canada in 1972. She completed her BFA at Université Laval in Canada and went on to obtain her MFA at Pratt Institute, New York. Tremblay has exhibited her work extensively in galleries, museums and art fairs throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico and the Middle East. Her work has been featured in exhibitions at Hendershot Gallery, New York, Galleri Rebecca Kormind, Denmark, Galleri Sortedam, Denmark, and Craig Scott Gallery, Toronto.

Most recently, she has exhibited at the Nassau Museum in New York and the Sinaloa Museum of Art, Culiacan, Mexico. Tremblay’s work can be found in private collections throughout the US, Canada, Europe and the Middle East. She currently lives and maintains a studio in Newburgh.

Julie Tremblay: Unpacked is a retrospective survey that brings together the artist’s two-dimensional and three-dimensional works into one space. Organized between a set of rooms, this exhibition takes the viewer on a journey through Tremblay’s prolific career over the past twenty years. (1999-2019). Nearly every type of work Tremblay has made to date, in both technique and subject matter are represented in the exhibit. Working in an open-ended methodology and an inquiry-based approach, each work reflects the artist’s interest in fractal geometry, chaos theory, mathematics and the natural sciences.

The works on display are both diverse and eclectic. Included in the exhibition are pieces from Tremblay’s early career, such as the abstracted, twinkling, life-sized figurative sculptures fabricated from industrial waste; to a highlighted selection of large-scale charcoal drawings that reference various universal patterns found in nature; following through to her most recent iconic pieces; the visually impactful and monumental sculptures of colored aluminum mesh.

While these works are not easy to define, the ideas, materials and procedures that motivate the artwork are dynamic. They also demonstrate the artist’s willingness to experiment with a variety of art-making techniques across a broad spectrum, challenging traditional boundaries and resulting in powerful concepts constructed from non-traditional materials and unconventional methodologies. As explained in Tremblay’s own words in the quote below:

“Twenty years is both long and short. In a way, 1999 feels like yesterday. The works I made then still feel relevant today, perhaps even more. And yet, when I look at the amount and variety of things I made over the last twenty years, it feels like, all of a sudden, these objects are giving time mass and weight and length. I think most visitors will be surprised by the variety of works shown in the exhibition, although, to me, whether figurative or abstract, they all are one.” Tremblay says.

“Furthermore, this retrospective exhibition taking place in the heart of the City of Newburgh, the city I have adopted and now proudly call home, makes this show a particularly personal one.”

In conjunction with the Julie Tremblay: Unpacked exhibition, Ann Street Gallery will host a Gallery Talk with the artist on Saturday, May 25, at 2 p.m.

The exhibition was curated by Virginia Walsh and will be on view through Saturday, June 1.