Categories: People

Philippe Allard

Philippe Allard’s practice revolves mainly around sculpture and installation. Taking inspiration from art povera, he recycles materials taken from industrial production and alters their initial meaning by repurposing them.

He is interested in the environmental impact of human activities and the consequences of our consumerist behaviour. He uses considerable quantities of materials, which have a dubious ecological footprint, in order to create public monuments that challenge passers-by to question the global impact of our everyday gestures. In perverting the nature of the recycled objects and materials, the artist seeks to extend their meaning into a system—more specifically the art system —for which they were not intended.

Related Post

The transformation of the environment through industry is a predominant theme in his work. Allard prompts the viewer to reflect about the distances and proximities between the artificial and the natural, as well as about those between the inspiration and destruction of nature. His installations are metaphors of the dilemma posed by our modern existence. They propose a dialogue between attraction and repulsion, seduction and disaster.

Biography
Philippe Allard received a BA in graphic design at UQAM. He lives and works in Montreal. His works have been shown in solo exhibitions, notably at Articule, the Darling Foundry and recently at the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown. He has also participated in several group exhibitions, notably the 5th Marrakech biennale in March 2014 and at the 31st Symposium international d’art contemporain de Baie-Saint-Paul. As an artist who takes a particular interest in site specific interventions, he has also created several publicly and privately commissioned works. Along with Justin Duchesneau, he was the winner of the 2009 Place des Arts de Montréal competition and recipient of the AGAC art award for the installation Courtepointe in 2014. He has already created four sculptures as part of the integration of public art and architecture program and will two more for the 375th anniversary of the city of Montreal in the spring of 2017.

Share