Stark warehouse fronts, crumbling brick walls, and the sharp horizontal lines of timber clad homes come to life in the dramatically atmospheric series of photographs by JB Valiquette titled De Nuit. On display until the end of this week at the Visual Voice Art Gallery, this young photographer’s work betrays his studies and deep understanding of urbanism. Inspired by the New Topographics movement, Valiquette photographed a myriad of Montreal’s commercial buildings by night. The banal structures we may pass by day without giving them a second glance, are transformed by the artist into moody studies of geometry, reminiscent of colour field paintings. The dark, dense monochromes reveal hollow doorways, ravaged window panes, and rusty gates. The silence of the city at night is palpable. Long shadows are cast on the white canvas of a building’s wall, the red smear of the tail lights of an invisible passing car provide the only clue of human presence. The night sky ranges from an inky, cloudless blue to the orange glow of city lights reflected back by an overcast sky.
This is a love letter to our city, and proof that a good artist can reveal the beauty of the most mundane objects.

Visual Voice Art Gallery
space 421
JB Valiquette
De Nuit
May 20 – June 12, 2010
www.visualvoicegallery.com