Micheline Gingras: Mis/Representation 2008–10

Mis/Representation 2008-10

Micheline Gingras

W

e are prisoners of our culture and times. In 2008, a crisis in equity derivatives threatened the entire American financial system.

Instruments of finance, that no one understood, not even their creators, were near collapse. Protecting the system was more important then assisting the individuals affected. Two presidents freed the banks of their culpability. The government was in hock to bankers and brokers.

This body of work was my response to the political confusion, a personal attempt to understand what I did not understand. I had a visceral reaction to this crisis and the people who had created it, and then pretended to fix it. I recall a detail that caught my eye, seeing Henry Paulson on television. He had this little crooked pinky finger on his left hand. I associated it with a bird’s claw grasping prey, a betraying digit of his true nature. Lawyers, judges, bankers, government officials, incompetent all, gathered, stacked in a formal pecking order. We had been told so many lies. I thought of Pinocchio, his nose growing longer with each lie. Big heads, small beaks, small heads, large beaks, and the long phallic beaks became a symbol. All others, women and children were just ‘sitting ducks.’

One may say that hands spoke to me like funny birds, odd, fat, self-important birds who wear suits, who take more than their share. I think how ill equipped I am to deal with a world so full of contradictions. Hollywood movies mirror our culture. We are constantly bombarded with images that we do not control, that promote violence and fear. On a daily basis, television screens are filled with men and their guns. Continually, we are told that we need guns to protect ourselves. Yet all the guns could not prevent the financial meltdown and government betrayal.

We run in circles. We are tense. We joke about it. We resist yet we buy into the fabric of ache. We can call events, hypocrisies, since one thing is said but another is done. Trying to re-assemble images of the media mumble jumble gave power to my unconscious. These ‘found’ images migrate from my mind, through my heart and soul. They are a record of our times and illustrate ‘who we are becoming.’

How does one place everyday images into a language that can be read by others and possibly help someone like me, raw with anxiety. I used pictures that spoke to my sense of foreboding to soften the pathos. This media ‘impacted age’ is toxic, but history has taught us that in every moment, one needs to surmount the waves, high or low as they come. Should we just close our eyes, fatigued by it all, or do we sleep until the nightmare is over. No answer here because there will always be waves to contend with. I want to build bridges over the waves.

Politics was never a specific interest of mine but since 2008, given the state of this country, its economic meltdown and two never ending wars, I am very apprehensive. I decided to return to collage, to create ‘theatrical tableaux’ illuminating the overload of my fears. I juxtaposed all kinds of images, a veritable DADA-esque tapestry of skepticism. Utilizing full-page images of movie advertisements from the NY Times, I collaged and over-painted the images to create a unified whole. Using colorful cartoon child-like imagery and humor, re-presenting and drawing over these images allowed me to cushion the harsh reality of our mass illusions. I always choose innocence over cynicism.

Micheline Gingras Sept. 2017

Titles: Cover: Thumb Generation, 22"h x 40"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 2: Army Strong, 11"h x 7"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 3: Redemption, 11"h x 8"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 4: War Breaths New Life, 22"h x 23"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 5: Fall Out On Washington, 22"h x 23"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 6: Are We Listening, 22"h x 24"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 7: Babar, Run Babar, 22"h x 24"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 8: Frog Entertainment, 22"h x 24"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 9: EK Shrek, 22"h x 28"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 10: Flushed Away, 22"h x 27"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 11: Punisher With Cars, 22"h x 25"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 12: Happily Never After, 22"h x 31"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 13: American Comedy Glow, 22"h x 24"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 14: Hedge, 22"h x 25"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 15: Battlefield Skirt, 22"h x 24"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 16: Valiant Ancestors, 22"h x 24"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 17: Retirement, 22"h x 24"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 18: Yes Man, 22"h x 35"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 19: Thanksgiving Parade, 22"h x 23"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 20: Defiance Butterfly, 22"h x 33"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 21: Mad Men Doubt, 22"h x 34"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 22: Mass Mutual, 22"h x 33"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2009

Pg. 23: The Haunting, 22"h x 33"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2009 Pg. 24: Knowing, 22"h x 36"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2009 Pg. 25: Monster Deals, 22"h x 36"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 26: Aking Chance, 22"h x 34"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2008 Pg. 27: Pacifica, 22"h x 29"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 28: Kids, 22"h x 33"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 29: Ascension, At Tension, 22"h x 11"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 30: Trovaesque, 24"h x 34"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2009 Pg. 31: Liberty, 24"h x 22"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 32: Oil on Ocean Skin, 22"h x 64"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 34: Woman’s day, 22"h x 58"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2009 Pg. 36: Guys And Dolls, 22"h x 48"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2009 Pg. 38: Co-Inception, Time To Shine, 22"h x 47"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 40: July Works, 22"h x 35"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 42: Mother’s Helpers, 22"h x 36"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 44: Valentines, 22"h x 60"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 46: Toy Story Graduation, 22"h x 47"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 48: Nobody Owns, 22"h x 44"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2009 Pg. 50: Katrina: Sitting Ducks, 22"h x 36"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 52: Generation Kill, 22"h x 44"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2009 Pg. 54: Thumb Generation, 22"h x 40"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Pg. 56: Yo, 23"h x 41"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010 Back Cover: Man Island, 15"h x 23"w, Tempera on newsprint, 2010

Born in Québec City, Canada, Micheline Gingras was educated at L’École Des Beaux-Arts de Québec. She received an M.F.A. majoring in painting and teaching. She has had numerous solo exhibitions in Canada, United States and Europe. Her work is part of several museum collections. She has received 2 Canadian Art Council Fellowships and a Québec Cultural Affairs Fellowship.

From 1979 to 2017, she taught art at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn.

In 2005, she relocated her studio to Mountaindale, upstate NY. Engaged in conceptual projects, she expresses raw ideas through collages that blur between figuration and surrealism with social commentaries.

Grâce à Raymon

Know Press Brooklyn, NY 2017 michelinegingras.com micheline@elozua.com

Mis/Representation 2008-10 Know Press Brooklyn, NY 2017