Hosted and emceed by Patrick Hakeem, Whatchu Laughing For is a monthly comedy night where comedians are invited to participate in an open mic format, the perfect place to try out new bits, polish pieces and see what makes us laugh.

For someone like myself who is still getting to know the Montreal scene, events like Whatchu Laughing For are a great way to get to know who is working in comedy in our city. Wednesday’s lineup included many up and coming comedians, including Eman El-Husseini, Bianca Yates, Zoe Daniels, Jesse Rather, Morgan O’Shea, Kirsten Rasmussen, Chris Betts and Rodney Ramsey. True to its open mic set-up, this was not exactly the list that was originally announced, but those that were not able to make it were replaced with some excellent talent.

It was Kirsten Rasmussen who drew me to the show. After seeing, and reviewing, her Fringe Festival show Blink Blink Blink I promised to my readers and to myself that I would try to see her perform again. It quickly became clear that the cartoon antics seen in her one-woman play continue into her stand-up routine, and in the best of ways. Like everyone, she was trying new material, some of which failed and some of which worked. As someone who has seen her finished work, watching the process of creating comedy was fascinating to me. As a fan, her animated retelling of drunken bar adventures and late night Kraft Dinner eating had me snorting in my beer.

It was a similar experience watching the other talented comedians whom I had not seen previously. Comedians used notes and jotted down audience reactions, which were often muted given the still maturing material. However, that is not to suggest that we weren’t entertained. Not only did the bar seem intrigued by the process unfolding under a glaring spotlight, but what we were watching was clearly funny stuff from hard working comedians.

I particularly enjoyed Eman El-Husseini, who opened the show with an act about living as a woman of Palestinian descent. The sharp witted talent is also organizing the first annual women’s only comedy festival,  opening this week in Montreal, called She’s Canadian, Eh?

Also memorable for me was Morgan O’Shea, whose bit on Ja Rule was unexpected, which is often what you want from a comedian. Aside from Ja Rule, it was the classic themes of race, religion and sex that continued throughout the night. The material was largely fresh and interesting, even the pieces that are still working their way to being the funniest that they can be.

The Royal Phoenix was an intimate venue for a laid back, fun and funny show. I plan to check out Watchu Laughin’ For again, and am looking forward to watching it and its comedians grow. Many of this week’s acts can be seen at the ComedyWorks Open Mic competition in a couple of weeks, which I will be noting on my calendar. After seeing what Montreal comedy has to offer, my appetite is whetted for more.

Begun in 1996, the festival originally focused on Asian films, which is the genesis of the name Fantasia. However, it quickly became popular as a host of genre films, celebrating fantasy, horror, the strange and the macabre of worldwide cinema. According to the Fantasia website, the 2010 festival was attended by over 105, 000 festival goers. Given the packed theatres and the sold out shows of this year, 2011 should see similar numbers.

While the great draw for these fans is a lineup of films not easily found in cinemas, the presence of cult classics from decades ago suggests that the festival experience is more than just seeing a hard to find film, or at least seeing it first. Film festivals bring out fans with an enthusiasm for film that permeates whatever theatre they fill. Clutching their tickets and their programs, genre fans in particular seem to tremble with excitement as they wait for their films to begin. These fans respect and enjoy the films they have selected from Fantasia’s lineup, and the viewing experience is the better for it.

Unfortunately for these fans, one of 2011’s biggest draws has fallen through. Guillermo del Toro, the creator of such loved films as Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy, has cancelled his promised appearance at the screening of his most recent film, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. Further information as to the cause of this cancellation is not available at the this time, other than a statement from Fantasia stating that it is “due to unforeseen commitments.” The director is currently in Toronto shooting his newest project, but is sending a video introduction in his place. Even so, what was the hottest ticket of the festival is simply a standard, although popular, premier.

Fans should not be too disappointed with their festival experience, however. 2011 hosted many North American, as well as some world, premieres, and offered the chance to speak with filmmakers and cast members of several projects. Moreover, it offered the opportunity to see films that are either difficult to find in theatres, particularly foreign language films, or have yet to be released in large runs.

My Festival Pick : The Last Ronin 

The Last Ronin, a 2010 Japanese film, played in Montreal for the first time on Wednesday, August 3. Set in Japan in the 1700s, the slow moving, elegant storytelling follows two survivors of a samurai vengeance killing. Kichiemon Terasaka (played by Koichi Sato), lived through the vengeance killing, but is sent out into the world to take care of the families of the fallen samurais and to spread their tale. After 16 years his task is done and he is left with only the shame of having outlived his mission.

Kichie’s longtime friend Magozaemon Senoo (played by Koji Yakusho), fled the night before the vengeance and lives a life of deep shame. Under an assumed name, he lives with a beautiful young girl, Kane, on the outskirts of Kyoto. At a puppet show one day, a wealthy young man sees Kane and falls in love with this mysterious young girl.

It is the relationship between Magoza and his ward Kane that becomes the true focus of the movie. Their relationship is one of father and daughter, servant and mistress and dear friends. Nanami Sakuraba as Kane is a delight. She is a petulant, slightly spoiled 16-year old, desperately loyal to the man who has raised her, while constantly testing his affections. It is a role that could easily be off-putting, but instead is amusing and sweet. Kane longs to remain a child, while at the same time it is clear that she is an adult and must be in the adult world. Magoza is desperate to do right by the girl, his sense of duty driving all of his actions.

Yakusho as Magoza brings to the former samurai the multi faceted personality of a conflicted man, slightly confused as to how he arrived at this point in his life, and even more confused by the affections of those closest to him. As the 17th anniversary of the vengeance draws near and Kane’s inevitable departure for the life of a bride looms, Magoza works secretly and constantly to honour his vows, blind to all else.

My last film of the festival, the Last Ronin honours the best in Asian period movies. The slow pacing suits the film and the 133 minutes runtime moves by unnoticed. Character driven and quiet, the film is sweet and funny. The characters are multi faceted, believable and sympathetic. Director Shigemichi Sugita has created a world full of light and beauty, in both its scenery and the characters that populate it. The continuous interweaving of the puppet show underlines the themes of love, sacrifice and honour, themes not usually found within a film that so often moved its audience to laughter. This film was my favorite of the festival, but I would be surprised if it found much distribution in North America. It may be one of those gems found at festivals that must be sought out diligently by discerning fans.

photo courtesy of Fantasia

Carl Tibbet’s Retreat is a refreshing break from the popular torture porn genre that seems to have taken over the single-room concept. The director has no interest, it seems, in cashing in on shock value. His film is more Hitchcock than Saw, relying on craft and character to build a tense, character driven psychological thriller, powered by a stellar cast and an excellent script.

Set on an isolated island (played with expertise by the striking Welsh landscape), the story centers around a young married couple trying to recover from a miscarriage. Cillian Murphy, best known for his roles in Batman Begins and 28 Days Later, plays Martin, a man helpless before his wife’s grief and his own. Instead, he is constantly active, doing things that are useful, that are all that he can do. Thandie Newton, of ER and Run Fatboy Run, plays Kate, a woman attempting to heal both herself and her marriage, but burdened with a secret she is sure will destroy their relationship.

The pair’s unhappy retreat is interrupted by the arrival of a bloodied young soldier. Jack, played by Billy Elliot’s Jamie Bell, tells the pair that a deadly pandemic has hit the mainland. Their only chance of survival, according to Jack, is to barricade themselves inside the house, waiting for the threat to pass.

This closed room idea is a popular concept for psychologically based films, trapping the characters within a single space and waiting to see who emerges. For Tibett, it was also a matter of convenience, as he told the audience at Retreat’s world premiere, hosted by the Fantasia film festival.

“It was in part necessity, because I’ve been trying to make short films for awhile and I wanted to make a big idea in a small way.”

Retreat uses all tools at its disposal to create a stressful, claustrophobic thriller, but the success of the film rests on its small cast. Knowing this, Tibett knew that successful casting would be vitally important.

“For Jack in particular, we really wanted someone who would not walk in the room clearly a psychopath,” Tibett says.

Jamie Bell was cast deliberately against type. For fans of Billy Elliot, the change in the actor is remarkable. Not only has he simply grown up, but Jack is a tattooed and muscled mass of precariously controlled violence. Tibett found in Bell an actor who could portray some vulnerability in what could have been a single note character.

As for his other actors, Tibett seemed thrilled to be working with such a stellar cast, praising Cillian Murphy’s rare portrayal as a level-headed man in a precarious situation.

“It was a surprise that he (Murphy) said yes to a virus movie,” Tibett admits about the actor famous for the zombie themed 28 Days Later. “We wanted him because he is a great actor. Cillian’s performance is fantastic. It is so subtle and some of the things he did were brilliant.”

He has equal praise for Newton, whose character’s inner turmoil, her grief and the secret she keeps, is matched by the chaos and emotional stress of the situation she is living through. As the film nears its completion, Kate’s strength and determination becomes ever more clear, mirrored by the immovable forces of her fellow prisoners.

Carl Tibett received an enthusiastic round of applause as lights came up at his world premiere. More significant, however, were the collective gasps, cheers and shouted encouragements drawn from an engrossed audience as the film screened. Retreat is an impressive first venture from a director well versed in a demanding and exciting genre, and a showcase of some of Britain’s best young actors.. Look for it at festivals like Fantasia throughout the year, and in theatres, hopefully, in 2012.

“We haven’t been to Montreal in quite a few years,” Fred Schneider shouted into the cheering crowd. “So this is a kiss to all of you.”

The group broke into Whammy Kiss, abandoning the banter for much of the remainder of the show, although Kate Pierson attempted a few phrases in French to the delight of the crowd. The rock group best known for such hits as Love Shack and Rock Lobster focused instead on delivering the goods. Pierson, Schneider, Cindy Wilson and Keith Strickland, together with their back up band, broke out the songbook, playing their golden oldies as well as some songs from their newer records.

The sound of the B-52s hasn’t changed much since their heyday, when Love Shack reached #1 on the charts in 1989. Over twenty years later their biggest hits are still sung in karaoke bars and heard on the radio. The crowd at Quartier des Festivals seemed to get the appeal. Toddlers and parents danced in the street next to college kids and grandparents while the 60-year old Schneider shouted out lyrics in his trademark call-and-answer style.

For the close of the 32nd Festival International de Jazz, it was a perfect pick. While the festival hosts some amazing and slightly more challenging ticketed shows, the public venues tend to be filled with music that is pleasant, crowd pleasing and all-ages, much like the B-52s themselves. The crowd on Monday night may not have been fans of the group before, but on a hot evening in the Montreal downtown core, dancing with strangers, we were all fans.

Finally the strains of Love Shack filled the air. The energy in the crowd climbed a notch for this, the band’s “final” song. Given that Rock Lobster had yet to be played it was clear that we were to expect an encore. After a brief applause the group reappeared and the space-age sounds of Planet Claire began, moving seamlessly into the missing Rock Lobster rendition before the B-52s wished us all good night.

There were a few more shows left to play in the various venues around the downtown, but for all intents and purposes, the 32nd Festival International de Jazz was finished for another year. In a few days the only remnants may be the newly completed mural on the corner of Clark and Ste-Catherine (by local collective A’Shop), some empty wallets and a few new music memories. The crowds began heading home, or to after parties, pausing long enough to watch fireworks explode over the Quartier des Festivals. The Jazz Fest, a flaneur’s delight, will be back with its crowds in 2013, but in the city of Festivals there is always another one just about ready to go. Fear not Montreal. The summer festival season is just getting started.

Blink, Blink, Blink, written and performed, and I suspect wrestled into existence, by Montreal Improv’s Kirsten Rasmussen. The play is seamless, with music and sound effects meticulously synchronised with the actress’s manic comedic performance as motivational speaker Sara Tonin. I would say that Rasmussen’s fingerprints are all over the entire piece, except that I am sure, given the professional nature of the show, that even metaphorical fingerprints would undoubtedly be wiped clean before anything was shown to the public.

Rasmussen plays Sara Tonin, a motivational speaker whose aggressive approach to casting aside one’s fears is not playing out as well in her personal life as her on stage persona might suggest. This story lines runs parallel to that of Benjamin Bunny, a timid rabbit, also played with brilliant physical comedy by Rasmussen, as are several other rabbit characters. Rasmussen switches seamlessly between characters with a change of facial expression, voice and stance to such effect that there was never any doubt about who was on stage or who was speaking to whom. Her portrayals were almost cartoonish in their exagerated nature, but also completely believable and generally hilarious.

The writing is sharp and funny, but, as with the best comedies, does not rely strictly on humour. It builds relationships, struggles and character evolution, showing us a side of Benjamin and a side of Sara that we recognize and can relate to, even while we are laughing.

The music, composed by Jeff Louch and Kirsten Rasmussen, melds well with the rest of the play and continues in the comedic vein. At times the pianist could not help giggling, but I really can’t blame him. I was snorting with laughter myself.

Blink, Blink, Blink was a fabulous experience, marked with professionalism, humour and what seemed to be a genuine enjoyment by all involved. I made an effort to see this piece because Kirsten Rasmussen was so engaging at the preview at Fringe For All, and she did not disappoint. She will be taking over co-hosting the Fringe Festival’s 13th hour next year, which I feel will be a good fit and an additional reason for me to check out the late night review show. In the meantime I will be sure to look her up in local shows and Montreal Improv. She won me over and I can’t wait to see her on stage again.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is not a one-man play, but don’t tell that to Hedwig. The German-born rock transexual sensation is a show of her own, and Antonio Bavaro’s performance is front and center as it should be. This cult classic is known for it’s entertainment value and the Montreal Fringe Festival performance delivers.

Unfortunately, the show I attended started almost 20 minutes late. After waiting outside and then inside I was not as receptive as I may usually have been, but after a couple of numbers I warmed up to the performance. The play is presented as a rock show. The Angry Inch back up band is drunk, hairy and disgruntled, Hedwig is bitchy and fabulous and we the audience are playing the role of audience. Between high energy punk rock numbers, and through them, Hedwig recounts in extended monologue her life, from a pretty boy in early 1980s East Berlin to her operation that left her with her “angry inch”, to a life in America and her desperate search for her “other half”. Rejected and angry she vents and laments and sings her ass off.

Unfortunately due to the nature of attempting to present the band as an actual punk band I found the play element of the musical somewhat hard to follow. This is in keeping with the history of the play, which was developed in the club scene versus in theatres in an attempt to keep the rock energy. Although the Katacombs is ideal for this play, the sound was loud to the point that I wasn’t able to follow all of the lyrics. In a club show this doesn’t matter. In a musical I am left feeling that I may have missed story elements.

Adding to my confusion was the fact that the leads did not have quite the physical skills necessary to project multiple characters as often required. This was really only slightly problematic, as Bavaro generally could switch characters by accent and Peggy Hogan, who plays almost everyone else, was able to rely on context and props. In the few scenes where props and costumes did not switch to suggest different character I found that the scenarios were muddled, leaving me slightly unsure of my own interpretations of what was happening, particularly as the play wrapped up.

Still, given these technical issues, I really enjoyed the show. Hedwig is a complex and highly damaged character whose search for identity and love, and identity and power via love, was understandable and intriguing. The script was tweaked to match the venue and the city, a local nod that kept up the illusion that we were at a rock show and that these characters were in fact real, and, in fact, larger than life.

Antonio Bavaro as Hedwig draws on all of his drag performance background to deliver high energy, stylish camp over a wounded, bitter interior, and all in sky high heels. He takes over the stage and the entire room with angry energy, stomping his feet, dashing back and forth, doffing and donning outfits and belting out songs that are cult classics. Bavaro’s voice matches the songs perfectly, both the rock hits and the softer ballads. Penny Hogan’s vocals are underused by her character, but when she sings it is worth the wait. Overall it is a strong presentation of a cult classic, engaging, energetic, touching and rocking out.

Both Blink, Blink, Blink and Hedwig and the Angry Inch wrap up their final shows this weekend, as does the Montreal Fringe Festival. With only three days left to enjoy the smorgasboard of live small theater I encourage Montreal to hit the streets and the small venues where these shows are still being showcased. My appetite for live theater has been whetted. I won’t wait until 2012 to see more live theater, and neither should you.  montrealfringe.ca

The three emcees take the stage. Zack Winters, Jimmy Priest and Rufus O’Hallahan are also the hosts to the 13th hour, a nightly wrap up of each day’s Fringe. After years of hosting dance parties, stunts and recaps the three are looking at their final year, an announcement that draws boos from the audience, but only briefly as the room jumps into the Fringe for All’s night of previews.

Montreal’s Fringe Festival, like those across Canada, allows no artistic direction or censorship, including in what they include. In order to make the festival truly open to all artists, acts are selected by lottery. For Montreal’s Festival there is a quota of Quebec acts (60%, French and English), Canadian (20%) and international performers (20%). Everything else is luck of the draw, and the Fringe for All is the first chance these acts have of truly selling themselves to the audience. With two minutes apiece the night moves along quickly, a dream for the Sesame Street generation. If you don’t like the act it changes quickly. Performers push through the crowd to reach the stage, and then out again to reach the drinks.

The Fringe A-Z lineup, as the lottery winners are called, is as diverse as one can expect. Slam poets brush shoulders with multi-cast stage productions. Stand-up comedians climb off stage while dancing superheros climb on. The room is hot and crowded and whether or not the back of the room can even see the stage seems incidental.

It’s a great introduction to the lineup but also the energy of a fringe festival, pushed along largely by enthusiasm. This is Montreal Fringe Festival’s 21st year, but it feels fresh and full of young talent. The ability to sell an entire show in a 2 minute time slot is a special one. Blink Blink Blink’s Kristen Rasmussen wins me over with her energy alone and a fantastic physical comedy ability.
Spirit of the Fringe 2010 Winner Manga uses their 2 minutes to showcase their mix of dance, puppetry and Japanese cartoon stylings that has me wanting to see more. Meanwhile Confabulation, Montreal true-life storytelling series intrigues me immediately by that synopsis alone.

There is a lot to see on the Fringe A-Z lineup, although it is a lottery for the audience as well. Fringe is a great way for artists to gain experience, try things out and throw something together. That doesn’t guarantee good results, but at Fringe it seems that the process is part of the fun.

The festival continues the experience beyond their Fringe A-Z program, and beyond the lottery system. The festival is three parts, including Fringe After Dark, an nightly series offering events that are more interactive and, some would say, less stage focused. Meanwhile at the Fringe Park the third part of the festival unfolds, including music, drinking and visual arts. Again the lottery system means that the Fringe Gallery and the Fringe public art offerings might be surprising in ways good or bad, but they are sure to be enthusiastic, if the Fringe For All crowd is any indication. It seems to be the case for the entire festival. Stay tuned to see how it goes!

“I want to take the kind of stories that you tell at parties in the way that you tell them and turn that into a comic strip,” Holmes says before a small gathering at Montreal’s Drawn and Quarterly store. The artist was in town on his way to Toronto’s TCAF convention, stopping in Montreal to take part in a panel on biography and autobiography. The subject is apt, as Holmes’s stories are in fact true, but they are not his stories.

The True Story strip is published weekly in the Coast, a Halifax weekly magazine. For four years Holmes has been taking reader submitted stories and illustrating them. The charming black and white drawings bring the stories to life, taking what was an anecdote and lending it an element of voyeurism. The reader is invited suddenly into a stranger’s life, where elements are funny or sad, familiar or bizarre, and sometimes all of the above.

“It’s just easy for me,” the artist stresses. “You could sit and try to create this story out of whole cloth, but they’re just sitting there.”

“This was the opportunity to pick the best,” he says of the newly published True Story book. The collection features 100 of the 190 (to date) strips, redrawn and polished by the artist. Each story is accompanied by a brief blurb from the original writer, including the writer of this article, who supplied a story for a strip in January of 2010.

The artist appeals to his public regularly to contribute, dipping into his own font of personal stories when necessary. The stories, whether usable or not, continue to appear in his email inbox and sometimes make it into illustrated form.

“People have stories to tell and want to tell them,” Holmes says. “Whether or not they make it into the comic strip.”

As for what makes it onto the page, Holmes smiled and shrugs. “I don’t think there’s a formula at all. If I read a story and laugh out loud at it, then that has to be a sign. Or if I’m like that is beautifully told – it’s just a beautiful slice of life.”

True Story began and continues to run as a part of the Halifax community, but the strips stand on their own. Holmes has learned, over the years, how to tell other people’s stories in a very specific format, but always with a combination of his voice and that of the storyteller. It is a partnership that works. The collection of stories covers life in a small city, the people that you meet there and the stories that they bring with them from away. It’s every city and every person, beautifully told. These are the stories that don’t end with “You just had to be there”.

Stories can be emailed to truestorycoast@gmail.com

photo credit Martine Doyon

Montreal in the summer shows its best colours and lures its residents and visitors into the great outdoors. Terrasses spring up on the street, skirts and bare shoulders appear from under the layers of winter wear and suddenly every area of green grass is covered with bodies lolling in the sun. Downtown is abuzz as people take to the streets to renew their love affair with their city, and everything on its streets belongs to the masses.

In this way the newest installation at the Quartier des Spectacles is perfectly suited to Montreal and its new summer sun. For months the promenade at the Place des Festivals was littered with Spheres Polaires, the giant orbs glowing like Christmas lights. That is past. Instead the newest installation, 21 Balancoires, is an interactive art and music experience installed on the strip of land between President Kennedy and Maisonneuve, a new installation space named the Promenades des Artists.

“The Quartier des Spectacles is a laboratory for artists,” says Pierre Fortin, the General Director at Quartier. “A showcase for Montreal’s creativity. We want to reveal a new kind of animations that creates the surprise.”

The artists, Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat, knew that the Quartier des Spectacle and UQAM, who were overseeing the site, were looking for interactive ways to involve people in the art and in the space. 6 concrete structures were already installed and the artists looked to address how to use these structures in an new an interesting way, as well as how to bridge the space from UQAM to the Quartier des Spectacles, and bridge the metaphorical space of the urban passerby to art.

According to Mouna Andraos, the idea of using swings to reimagine an urban space is not a new idea, on a global scale, and they were happy to appropriate it in this context, installing 6 large sets of swings along the walkway. These swings, however, create music when in motion. Therefore, the simple summertime pleasure becomes an interactive musical collaboration, changing depending on how many swings are in use, which ones and how fast people are moving.

“From the beginning [the musical element] was to be an entry point for the audience into the piece,” says Andraos. “to create more than swings.”

The involvement of UQAM also led to the involvement of Luc-Alain Girardeau, a professor of animal behaviour at the UQAM Faculté des Sciences. The artists quickly realized that the professor’s specialties in animal communication and cooperation was exactly what they were looking into.

“Are people willing or not to cooperate?” Andraos muses from her home in Montreal. The work allows people to either make their own music or collaborate with friends and strangers to create musical pieces together. With a minimum of information at the site the work is intuitive for its participants, like much of the artists works. As the artists’ state on their website “Our projects bring magic to everyday places, behaviors and objects, inviting the public to become active contributors in the process and surrounding environments.”

I wandered across the installation of the first truly summery weekend in Montreal, and there was not an empty swing to be seen. In the center of busy street on a little island of pedestrian safety Montrealers and visitors alike were taking advantage of the weather and the installation to revisit a simple pleasure in a new way. I came back the next day without any luck, as every empty swing was quickly grabbed. However, the swings will be open to the public until May 23rd, from 10a.m. to 11p.m. every day, so I will be trying my luck again at the first sign of sun in Montreal.

the great white tent

A large white tent at the corner of the Quartiers des Festivals was the place to be in the Montreal arts community this past weekend. The Association des galeries d’art contemporain (AGAC) hosted their fourth fair for contemporary art on paper under a great white tent, showcasing works by over 400 artists represented by 38 galleries from Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa and Toronto. For four days only the corner of Bleury and Maissoneuve was host to an artistic smorgasbord.

One enters first into the social area of the tent, inhabited by a long bar and several couches where art lovers read their catalogues and discuss the pieces they have seen and, perhaps, are considering purchasing. I entered this area in the middle of a hail storm, the buzz of the crowd mixing with the constant drumming of ice pellets on the tarp of the tent.

I made first one lap and then another. Each gallery had a booth in which to showcase their best and brightest. It quickly became clear not only that this was an excellent opportunity to fall in love with some new artists but also that contemporary art on paper was a classification that covered a lot of types of artwork.

Inside the tent and among the crowd

Véronique La Perrière M.’s work, hosted by Montreal’s Galerie SAS, were among the fair’s many lovely examples of drawings on paper. Amongst her dreamy, intriguing and even off putting charcoal drawings was a dimensional piece entitled Waiting for the Owl, a shadowbox wherein the drawings gained an additional dimension, cut out and mounted on a mini- theatrical stage.

There were many examples of drawings on paper, a medium that I relish. One of my favorite booths to see illustrative work, in particular, was hosted by Gallerie Yves Larouche. In particular I was drawn to Travis Louie’s soft but highly detailed drawings of fantastical creatures. Drawing of Ralph has the aesthetic of a turn of the century photographic portrait, its subject well dressed and uncomfortable in front of the camera, although in fact the portrait is graphite on paper and the figure is a somewhat ogre like creature, one of a series of works by the artist that mimic the appearance of daguerrotypes.

I was equally delighted to find that Art Mur, also of Montreal, was exhibiting Diana Thorneycroft’s Group of Seven Awkward Moments. The well known Winnipeg artist created tableaus against the backdrop of famous works of art by the Group of Seven. Her darkly humourous and often bloody scenes contrast with the quintessential Canadian landscape, challenging the comfort of the Canadian identity and its icons through her brightly coloured photographs.

The artwork at Papier 11 was not all to my taste, of course, but there was always something else to look at. This may be the great appeal of an art fair. Not only did I spot works by favorite and well known artists such as Shepard Fairey and Judy Chicago, but I was also introduced to many new artists that I had not encountered before, from Montreal staple Adrian Norvid with his billboard sized drawings (to be installed later this year at Place des Arts metro station) to Cathy Daley’s charcoal dancing dervishes. Moreover, I was surrounded by art, artists and art lovers. Papier 11 was weeks worth of gallery hopping crammed into, for me, a single afternoon, and I loved it. Not only will I be following the oeuvres of the artists I enjoyed as the years go on, but I’ll be back with a fresh appetite next year, ready to try the smorgasbord again.