To anyone who lives in cities like Montreal or New York City, space is a luxury; to live in a 250-square-foot studio apartment in the downtown core, one must make creative choices to maximize the use of available space. Thankfully, artists thrive on limitations. Perhaps that’s why both of these cities have such reputable art scenes. 

From April 13 to May 6, the smallest studio in the Belgo Building invites you to Petit et Intime: Exploration de peinture, textiles et photographies, an opportunity to discover over 41 small-scale works from a group of artists hailing from Montreal to New York City. The studio-turned-gallery unites an eclectic mix of paintings, textiles and photography, all of which are 12” x 12” and under.  

When you happen upon the studio entrance on the fifth floor, you first peer into a whimsically painted corridor lined with artwork, beckoning you to wander inside. Following the trail of tiny frames, colourful fibres and canvas, you emerge into a cozy main room, flooded with light from two large windows. There, I was greeted by co-curator and figurative painter, Kara Eckler. 

Liza Sokolovskaya, painter and mixed media artist based in Brooklyn, is the other half of the curating duo that sought to gather the works of independent artists deserving of a closer look. 

“We asked the artists to submit up to ten of their smaller works, including studies that may lead to larger works in future iterations, and we selected two to three for the show,” said Eckler, “there are so many talented independent artists out there who are not represented by galleries, and we wanted to give their work the attention we felt it deserved.” 

The two curators deftly arranged the submitted works into a cohesive narrative, despite the pieces originally sharing no thematic connection aside from their scale. Featured artists include visual artist and writer Lauren Anders, painters Sophia Skayafas and Zachary Sitrin from New York City, painters Madeline Richards, Ben Williamson, Mary Hayes, Heather Euloth, Heidi Daehler, Jessica Joyce, Karine Guyon, Alex Coma, Colette Campbell-Moscrop, and Luis-Fernando Suárez, photographer Lekui, and painter and fibre artist Lea Elise, from Montreal.   

To fully immerse yourself in the experience of Petit et Intime, you must accept the invitation to stop, lean in and decipher. Though the works are small in size, each one draws you in with a powerful inquisitive force, daring you to explore far beyond the boundaries of the material. 

This challenge to examine the content through the container’s surface becomes immediately apparent with the very first set of pieces flanking the gallery entrance; Study for The World Made Strange and Study for Butterfly 1, two pastel studies by Madeline Richards. In both pieces, we see human limbs emerging from a body of water, held afloat by soft pink flotation devices. In Study for the World Made Strange, the limbs are almost disappearing below the surface, seemingly flailing to remain visible. In the second frame, a body glides at the surface, buoyed by floaties arranged in a way that resembles butterfly wings. These pieces set the mood for the exhibition, where the viewer will be in a constant state of negotiation as to whether to tiptoe gently along or dive right in.

In Pensées roses by Kara Eckler, a woman sits upright in her bathtub, gazing down at her naked body, her corporeal shape hidden by the edges of the tub. Though the scene is voyeuristic, the painting has a rather soft and tender quality. This feeling lingers as your eyes drift onto its neighbouring piece, Built a home for you by Heidi Daehler, where you observe a deer through what appears to be a porthole window. In both cases, the viewer does not wish to disturb the subject, but instead hold space for their vulnerable stillness.  

As you round the corner, the works become more abstract, such as a triptych of paintings from the series titled Touched by Jessica Joyce. The soft, bruise-like surfaces of the panels include visible hand marks, tempting you to press your digits against those of the artist, typically considered a forbidden act of connection between the art and the observer. Come closer, but keep your hands to yourself. 

Playing against this soft stillness, the brightly coloured abstract fibre work of Lea Elise vibrates alongside neon abstract works Bewitched and Utopia by Karine Guyon. In this moment, the formerly gentle signal jams, producing textures and visuals reminiscent of glitch art. You might wonder what would happen, should these threads of wool, silk, and linen unravel, or the strokes of oil pastel lift off of the page. What messages would we decode from them? What immense web would they create?

Before reaching the main room, I was intrigued by a tiny set of hands with their thumbs and index fingers joined together, welcoming us to the next stage of our journey. The Polaroid photograph captured by Lauren Anders, Untitled (Hands) is mysteriously charming. Again, the viewers are asked to pause and wonder if we are meant to understand what is being communicated through a gesture.

At the heart of the exhibition, every available surface at eye level offers delight. Unbound by its size limitation, the collection presents a satisfying range in scope of perspective, such as an interpretation of a planetary surface captured in Sué – Chibcha by Luis Fernando Suarez, or the speckled night sky in Amateur astronomer by Ben Williamson. Seeking feelings closer to earth, there is the heartwarming simplicity of Softscape by Heather Euloth or the teenage angst that exudes through the watercolour in Canicule – Étude by Mary Hayes. 

Especially after a long period of isolation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, there seems to be a renewed appreciation for the ways in which people might share spaces, as well as a growing need for the revival of communal artistic experiences. To Eckler, there is momentum gathering towards more collective art initiatives, and opening her studio to other artists was a small step towards much bigger things. 

  “I took over this space at the start of the pandemic, and I was working here during the lockdowns and curfews. When things started to calm down, I felt a shift, where artists were really itching to get out and make things happen,” shared Eckler, “There’s a really strong art community in Montreal. I’ve received a lot from it, so it’s nice to be able to give back and share this beautiful space with others.” 

Moving through the gallery, it was easy to forget the limitation of space and focus instead on the abundance of spirit that was gathered there. I ended my visit with Liza Sokolovskaya’s Night Pool, where I stood peering into the depths of an empty inground swimming pool. It is quiet now, undisturbed, but I know that when the sun rises again, it will come alive with all kinds of people splashing around, treading water, their bodies rendered weightless. 

Petit et intime runs until May 6 in studio 531.