Ten small, vividly coloured prints stopped me in my tracks today, while browsing through Galerie Roger Bellemare. They are the most recent works by Michael Merrill, one of Bellemare’s gallery artists.

Merrill presents a series of ten prints titled I Never Saw Documenta. He asked a friend to visit Documenta, the famous “contemporary art olympics” which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Based on the photos his friend took during this visit, Merrill created ten works of art capturing this event’s unique aesthetic. You may have seen Merrill’s work at the Quebec Triennial, which is currently running at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal. Merrill’s subject matter is art in its environment. He paints the interiors of major art museums, including the work on display. This poses an interesting question: who is the artist? The one who created the artwork on display in the museum? The curator, placing the work in context? Or Merrill, who re-interprets the work? Where does one artist end and the other begin? It’s one of the fundamental issues of post-modern art.

Galerie Roger Bellemare
space 502
Michael Merrill
I Never Saw Documenta
exhibition period: July 12 – August 16, 2008
www.rogerbellemare.com