Make sure you check out Michel de Broin‘s exhibition Usure mentale at Galerie Donald Browne.

You may have noticed the de Broin’s graffiti-covered Metro windows at the recent MAC Québec Triennial, though I think the pieces are much more powerful here in this gallery setting. Displayed are a series of photographs titled Silent Shouts, featuring the very same windows when they were still installed in the Berlin Metro wagons. The graffiti etched into the glass panes obscure the passengers inside the compartments, while at the same time reflecting the urban jungle the train rumbles through. De Broin creates poetic, multi-layered images speaking of the caveman’s instinct to mark his place, even in this modern era.
My favourite piece, though, is the sculpture Late Program. At first glance it appears to be an old-fashioned TV set, the kind with the big knob to change the channels. But look again and you’ll realize this isn’t a TV at all – it’s a wood-burning stove! De Broin is famous for his brilliant, poignant, paradoxical sculptures, and this one is right up there with my other favourites. Playing on the caveman theme again, the artist reminds us of an earlier time when we used to huddle around the fire and tell stories. Now we huddle around the TV and doze off. I really love this piece, and am thinking of trading in my big-screen TV for this Late Program…

Galerie Donald Browne
space 524
Michel de Broin
Usure mentale
exhibition period: September 6 – October 11, 2008
www.galeriedonaldbrowne.com