Artist Nicole Béland presents a series of paintings and photographs at Galerie Luz, which she has split into two groups: in galerie 2 Béland presents her collection titled Brave New World, in galerie 3 hangs her series titled Art is Oxygen.

Visually, however, there’s no real distinction between the two series. Despite the foreboding title Brave New World, a reference to the 1932 classic novel by Aldous Huxley about a futuristic, totalitarian state, Béland’s paintings and photographs are bright, colourful, cheerful, and even a little slick. The mixed-media paintings are reminiscent of graffiti; the surface of her canvas rough and sandy, the paint-work sketchy with traces of spray-can marks. Her photographs are mostly urban snapshots, some of which are digitally manipulated either with Photoshop filters or by adding short texts. Most successful are her still-life photographs, close-up shots of computer boards in strong, primary colours.
Béland’s aim is to “illustrate … how our beloved machines tend to dehumanize us.”
I still feel okay.

Galerie Luz
space 418
Nicole Béland
Brave New World, Art is Oxygen
exhibition dates: April 9 – May 3, 2008