En Masse artists are presenting their personal artworks at Galerie Pangée – in technicolour! Known for their enormous black-and-white collaborative murals, the Salon Masse showcases the artists’ personal projects, which range from screen prints to painted skateboards. The walls at Galerie Pangée are covered from floor to ceiling with quirky neo-pop art, large-scale drawings, and some academic works. If you are familiar with En Masse’s murals you will be able to recognize the distinct visual language of each participant, though there were quite a few artists I couldn’t reference. Most evident are Jason Botkin’s hallmark floating heads, with their swirl of concentric, serpentine lines, as well as Amy Goh’s and Kirsten McCrea’s intricate drawings and delicate patterns. I also recognized Astro Duc Crew’s cast of crazy cartoon characters which look like they escaped from a Japanese video game and are having a smoke after a massive rave. On the other end of the spectrum are the impressive painterly portrait works by Kevin Ledo and Carmelo Blandino, their layered, floating brushwork and subtle colour palette echoing the works of Dutch masters.

The Salon Masse is somewhere between a circus and a cacophony, as the various styles, media and sizes of artwork compete with your attention, but this is also the exhibition’s charm. My advice is to take your time, and to stroll along the stretch of exhibition walls twice to make sure no artwork escapes your notice.

Galerie Pangée, space 412
En Masse
Salon Masse
April 27 – June 30, 2012
www.galeriepangee.com