Abacadabra
Sylvie Bouchard

Galerie Division
November 4 – December 19, 2009

In the paintings of Sylvie Bouchard, a coherent analogy is drawn between art and magic, artist and sorcerer; but the magic is not in any sense that of a literally occult reality. It is both consoling and haunting to encounter the semi-invisibility of this, just as “real” magic tends to delight and disorient; in Bouchard’s imagery, which in general is pervaded by a mystic and solemn mood, we re-encounter the characters we are likely to feel we already know, even though they are nameless and archetypal. It is no accidental drama that we witness, nor is the mood at all quotidian or happenstance. We are both at home, and abroad; at ease, and slightly outside of our comfort zone. Here we find the artist hard at work.

(from gallery press release)