An artist residency to bridge the gap with Mexico

Artist and gallery owner Éric Carlos Bertrand, director of Cache Studio, in South-Central Montreal, is organizing a first residency for Canadian artists in Mexico in May. In a year, five artists will exhibit their work in two galleries in Mexico City.

Ed Pien, Étienne Zack, Johannes Zits, David Gagnon and he will spend the month of May in San Agustín, near Oaxaca. A first residency funded by Cache Studio that the Quebec-Mexican artist, who also plans to produce works, hopes to repeat annually.

Requests for funding from the Canada Council for the Arts (CAC) and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) were also made to put the operation together.

Well planned project

Éric Carlos Bertrand, Mexican on his mother’s side, who notably did his master’s degree in sculpture at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico and has been making contacts with the Mexican artistic community for more than 20 years, has been toying with this project for some time.

He began exhibiting Mexican artists at Cache Gallery about two years ago. Demian Flores, Alberto Castro Leñero, Gerardo Montiel Klint, among others, have all stopped here. Then, the idea of ​​building a bridge with Mexico, with Quebec and Canadian artists, seemed obvious to him.

“I want to create a constant channel between Mexico and Quebec,” he told us.

The four artists who will leave with him were chosen based on their experience, but also their ability to adapt. “These are artists who travel a lot, who are capable of allowing themselves to be influenced, of taking risks and of producing in a situation of imbalance,” Éric Carlos Bertrand tells us again. In fact, they like to create spontaneously. »

Despite the underfunding of cultural institutions – a global phenomenon – the art market is “vigorous” in Mexico, believes Éric Carlos Bertrand.

During the duration of their residency, the artists will design their projects. Painting, drawing, but also other artistic forms. “Ed Pien wants to work with ceramicists; Johannes Zits, who does performances and photography, would like to meet a weaver, David and Étienne want to do engraving,” illustrates Éric Carlos Bertrand.

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Mexican artist Mónica Castillo will assess the fairness of relationships between artists and artisans, so that everything is done with respect for local culture. In a year, two galleries in Mexico City have already expressed interest in presenting the works of the five artists: La Nao and Etra. They will be exhibited at the same time as other Mexican artists, one of the conditions desired by the director of Cache. If all goes well, he would also like to exhibit these works at the Cache gallery.

The artist at the center

Éric Carlos Bertrand would like these residencies to be recurring. Within a year or two, the residencies could take place in Mexico City, at the La Quiñonera Art Center, in the Coyoacán neighborhood, which has already been a reference in Mexico City and is in the process of being relaunched. Éric Carlos Bertrand, who sits on the board of directors, is already in discussions so that Quebec and Canadian artists can stay there.

This project is part of the vision of the founder of Cache, which places the artist at the center of the artistic ecosystem.

“It was Ed Pien who observed that the problem is that the artist is at the top of an inverted pyramid. So my goal is to ensure that artists get the maximum benefit from their work. I offer them an exhibition space in Montreal where when they sell their works, they keep 70% of the profits, but I also want to give them visibility elsewhere, while having fun. And right now, Mexico is a great showcase for them. »