Radar 2024 : Karam Arteen, Molly Bertheaud, Marie-Danielle Duval, Mallory Lowe Mpoka, Kimberly Orjuela, Olivier Vilaire (aka Oski Awoyo)

Karam Arteen was born in Syria in 1989. The intensified fighting in Aleppo forced him and his family to immigrate to Montreal in 2015, where he is currently based. In a world that often prioritizes perfection, Arteen believes it is the imperfections in life that make us truly human. His artworks explore and reflect on the raw, emotional and unpolished aspects of life. He often references movies, while adding his own twists and turns. He received the first prize at Al Baas competition (Syria) in 2001, 2002 and 2003. His work has been exhibited in Canada, at the Musée des métiers d’art du Québec, at Artch and at Art Toronto with The Next Contemporary.

The visceral fragility of smashed eggs, the tension of red threads connecting lovers and mothers to children, and carnivalesque compositions of bird-women – Molly Bertheaud (born in NYC and living in Montreal) uses zoological symbolism and personal mythologies to explore the vulnerability of the heart’s expansion. She melds storytelling, myth, ecology, and mortality, to create narratives about love, desire, responsibility. She is currently pursuing her MFA at Concordia University. In 2023, she was selected for Artch and the residency program at Atelier 43. The McClure Gallery offered her a solo exhibition in 2024.

Marie-Danielle Duval is a Senegalese-Quebecer artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual and Media Arts from UQAM (2021) and is currently pursuing a MFA at Concordia University. Through the lens of her diasporic experience, Marie-Danielle draws from literature and oral tradition to bring to life fictional characters whose stories reflect contemporary issues. By raising questions of identity, her work establishes an interdisciplinary dialogue between painting and literature, exploring the transformative power of narratives on our realities.

Mallory Lowe Mpoka is a queer Cameroonian Belgian multidisciplinary artist based in Montreal. In Camera Obscura (chambre noire in Latin), Mpoka engages with themes of memorialization, subversion, colonial history and representation by deconstructing traditional modes of making, and by experimenting with the narrative and material potential of images and objects. Through an auto-ethnographic exploration, she delves into the colonial legacy of photography and the camera obscura. She draws on daguerreotype aesthetics and silhouette self-portraits to craft photo-objects that resonate beyond her polyphonic heritage. Her debut artist book will be published in fall of 2024 in conjunction with an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada.

Kimberly Orjuela is a Colombian-born visual artist currently based in Montreal. Her work explores ways we can decolonize our minds by rewriting undervalued histories through clay. Through this process, she preserves her culture and honors her ancestors. Orjuela channels her creative energy into the exploration of her cultural and spiritual roots. For her, the act of artmaking is a testament to her commitment to honor the earth. Her work has been exhibited internationally, through galleries, at the Outsider Art fair in New York City, and is included in various collection such as Collection Majudia and The Gardiner Museum.

Olivier Vilaire (b. Haïti, l. Canada), known as Oski Awoyo, employs his art as a vehicle for self-decolonization, self-discovery, and transcendence. Vilaire infuses his work with the colors, rhythms, and energy of his homeland. He derives inspiration from nature and from the marks left behind by humans, animals, and elements on surfaces. He often finds meaning that resonates with his personal journey by drawing parallels from Haitian mythologies and beyond. Vilaire believes in the transformative power of art to emancipate the soul. His work has been presented at Fonderie Darling, CIDIHCA, Livart, Conseil des arts de Montréal, Maison d’Haïti and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.