SINCÈRE

Romeo Gongora

Opening on Thursday Mars 8 at 5pm
The exhibition runs from Mars 8 to April 7, 2007
The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 5pm

Project realized in the context of a special collaboration with PRIM.

Seeking unfaithful married person for social study. Remuneration, completely confidential.

Classified ad appearing in a Mexico City newspaper
which was used to recruit one of the characters.

In the exhibition Sincère, Romeo Gongora continues his analysis of language. In two new video installations, Rosa-Maria and Marie-Jeanne, he calls into question the ability of speech to be a neutral vector of deeds and emotions.

At the entrance to the gallery, two videos, showing two silent men, greet the visitor. One is standing next to a woman, whom he clasps and embraces. The other is working in a modest workshop.

Using digital images, Romeo Gongora has built each of them a pocket theatre. In these small, virtual and cramped rooms which, paradoxically, confer great dignity on them, the two men speak to an absent person. One, who has been unfaithful, confesses his betrayal. The other, a widower, reveals his love and suffering. In each case, the confessional text was written by the artist and the subject. In this way, the men became characters and the (sincere?) confession a narrative. Words which, at first, were meant only to express facts—I’m cheating on you; I love you —unfold in front of the camera in a multitude of ambiguous and ambivalent meanings.

With a sometimes poignant intensity, these two works of Romeo Gongora explore the questions of representation, the authenticity of emotions, the fidelity of language and the perception of difference. These confessions, initially intended for the men’s wives, invite the viewer, for a moment, to take their place.

Romeo Gongora is the second artist to benefit from the exceptional opportunity offered conjointly by PRIM and Dazibao to produce and diffuse work. Every year, a special call for proposals invites artists, for whom the photographic practice crosses over into video and audio media to submit their project.

Romeo Gongora was born in Montreal in 1974. In 2005 he completed a Master’s degree in visual and media art at UQAM. He is the recipient of several grants and has shown his work at Galerie de l’UQAM, Optica and Gallery 44, among others. He recently took up a two-year residence in Amsterdam at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten. His work will be included in several group exhibitions in Canada and Europe throughout 2007.

The artist would like to thank the Centre d'arts médiatiques PRIM, the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec, the Canada Council for the Arts, FONCA, Centro de la Imagen, Omega 90, the Agence luxembourgeoise d’action culturelle, the Centre culturel de Rencontre-Neumünster and the Pépinières européennes pour jeunes artistes.

Dazibao thanks the artist for his generous collaboration and its members for their support. Dazibao receives financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and the Conseil des arts de Montréal. Dazibao is a member of the Regroupement des centres d’artistes autogérés du Québec.