Residency : from May 18 to 21, 2009
Opening : May 22 at 5pm
Create scenarios for a fictitious character; leave traces of his presence; then enjoy rediscovering them. That’s what inspired the author of the “Nickel City Flâneur” legend.
Mariana Lafrance’s project will draw you into a fantastic tale and allow you to experience the wanderer’s wanderings. An unknown traveller has arrived in Sudbury on foot. But will he be able to open the city’s doors? Does he have the wherewithal to outdo the men and women who hold him back? Will he fulfill his quest?
His legend will be told through a series of forty photographs presented in eight chapters. A large map of Sudbury will help you find your bearings and situate you in the action. The wanderer’s tale, as retrieved by the artist, will be transmitted to you through a projection on the wall. And finally, the wanderer’s attire will be exhibited as legitimate proof of his existence and his passage through Sudbury.
Among one hundred and fifty thousand others, a Sudbury legend will be brought to light.
Will the hero meet his creator? It’s a question that viewers might well ask about themselves.
Mariana Lafrance
Mariana Lafrance is an interdisciplinary artist working in Sudbury and on Manitoulin Island. While her earlier photographic work revealed a fascination with urban space and social phenomena, more recently her work has been about slowing down and tuning in to natural materials and moments. Mariana started learning photography in her early teens. She first exhibited her work in 2006 in Sudbury, following the launch of the popular photoblog La petite fumée... and the little smoke. She received a Northern Arts grant from the Ontario Arts Council in 2008 for her exhibition at the artist-run centre Galerie du nouvel-Ontario in Sudbury. The same year she published a first book of photos with Les Éditions Prise de Parole, entitled Site Unseen/La ville invisible, grouping together her photographs of Sudbury. In 2011, she was awarded an emerging artist grant from the Ontario Arts Council, with which she developed a work exploring the challenges of anxiety in social settings.
Artist Profile