Montréal/Brooklyn Épisode 7: We the Market

Two contrasting visions of the art market. In Montreal, the State institution is viewed as a fundamental factor in the artist’s professionalization, for it allows him or her to dedicate time to creative production without being constrained by a non-art related job. In Brooklyn, anti-professionalism appears to be the preferred aesthetic value. This stance is more denunciative and directly critical of the State, which is considered to hinder the artist’s exercise of full freedom. In this episode you will also discover the artists selected by the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal and the Galerie Smack Mellon.

This series documents the Brooklyn/Montreal  project, a Centre Clark initiative involving 16 institutions and 40 artists in a series of reciprocal exhibitions that revealed the cultural differences and similarities of two cities, both standard-bearers of contemporary art in North America. The event took place in Montreal from October 19 to November 17, 2012, and in Brooklyn from January 10 to February 2, 2013.