Jocelyne Alloucherie
Jocelyne Alloucherie is a prominent Canadian artist, recognized for her innovative contributions to visual and media arts. Born on February 8, 1947, in Quebec City, she holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Université Laval and a Master of Fine Arts from Concordia University. Alloucherie's artistic career took off in the early 1970s, and she became a key figure in the installation art movement of the 1980s, showcasing a distinctive approach that blends architecture, photography, painting, and drawing in her sculptures and installations.
Throughout her career, Alloucherie has exhibited extensively in Canada, the United States, and Europe, with notable works housed in major Canadian museums. Her art often explores themes of space and scale, creating contrasts between physical structures and their representations. Noteworthy accolades include the Governor General's Award for Visual and Media Arts in 2000 and the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas in 2002. In addition to her artistic endeavors, she has taught visual arts and art history at several universities.
Recently, Alloucherie was selected to contribute to the design of new Metro stations in Montreal, with her upcoming work for the Viau Station themed around clouds. Her ongoing engagement with public art and education highlights her influential role in the Canadian art community.
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Subject Terms
Jocelyne Alloucherie
Artist
- Born: February 8, 1947
- Place of Birth: Quebec City, Quebec
Contribution: Jocelyne Alloucherie is a Canadian artist, one of seven recipients of the first Governor General’s Awards for Visual and Media Arts in 2000.
Early Life and Education
Jocelyne Alloucherie was born on February 8, 1947, in Quebec City. She earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the School of Visual Arts at Quebec’s Université Laval in 1971 and a master of fine arts from Concordia University in Montreal in 1981.
Artistic Career
Alloucherie creates sculptures and installations that feature elements of architecture, photography, painting, and drawing, often blurring the boundaries between these media and disciplines. She was a leading figure in the installation art movement of the 1980s.
Alloucherie has exhibited her work throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe, beginning with a solo exhibition at the Musée du Québec in 1973. Her sculptures are in major museums across Canada, including the Vancouver Art Gallery, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, and the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal. Alloucherie’s sculptures and photographs have also been displayed by the Nova Scotia Art Gallery and the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, as well as in more than twenty-five major solo exhibitions around the world, including shows in Paris, Venice, Tokyo, and New York. In addition, Alloucherie was responsible for a number of installations in public areas across Canada, including the Collège Gérald-Godin, York University, and in Montreal.
Alloucherie’s sculptures and installations are characterized by a strong interest in space and scale, whether an investigation of landscape in the series Climats/Climates (2010); an attempt to reimagine the space between objects, as in many of her architectural photographs; or a redefinition of mass and emptiness in the Oeuvres de sable (Works of sand, 1999) series of sculptures. Alloucherie described the works in this series, which use sand, as comparable to photographs and the way they use particles to create contrast between light and dark and have the ability to shift form unexpectedly. Her works often mix large geometric forms with photographs to create a contrast between the substantial, architectural nature of landscape on the one hand and its lightness and immateriality on the other. They evoke other contrasts as well, such as familiarity and foreignness, positive and negative space, and drastic differences in scale.
In addition to the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts, Alloucherie received the Prix Paul-Émile-Borduas in 2002 and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2008. She was also awarded the Canada Council’s Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award in 1988 and was a recipient of the 2006–2007 Jean-Paul-Riopelle Career Grant, offered by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. She has taught visual arts and art history at the Université du Québec à Montréal, the University of Ottawa, Concordia University, and the Université Laval.
In 2023, the city of Montreal selected Alloucherie as one of five artists who will contribute to the design of five new Metro stations slated to open by the late 2020s. Her proposal, slated for the Viau Station, will be based on a theme of clouds.
Bibliography
"Bio." Jocelyne Alloucherie official website, 2020, jocelynealloucherie.com/bio/. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
Dault, Garry Michael. “Jocelyne Alloucherie: Les Occidents.” Archives Ciel Variable, 2010, cielvariable.ca/artistescv/alloucherie-jocelyne/. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
"Jocelyne Alloucherie." Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, 2024, macm.org/en/collections/artiste/jocelyne-alloucherie/. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
“Jocelyne Alloucherie.” Vox: Centre de l’image contemporaine, centrevox.ca/artistes-et-chercheurs/jocelyne-alloucherie. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
“Jocelyne Alloucherie: Climats (Climates).” Carleton University Art Gallery, 2010, cuag.ca/publications/jocelyne-alloucherie-climats-climates/. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
MacDonald, Thomas. “The STM Has Unveiled the Artists for Each New Blue Line Extension Metro Station." MTL Blog, 26 Jan. 2023, www.mtlblog.com/montreal/the-stm-has-unveiled-the-artists-for-each-new-blue-line-extension-metro-station. Accessed 24 Sept. 2024.
St. Pierre, Gaston. “Jocelyne Alloucherie.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 16 Dec. 2013, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jocelyne-alloucherie. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.