GILBERTO ESPARZA

Curators: Nuria Carton de Grammont and Véronique Leblanc

The Mexican artist Gilberto Esparza’s practice sets up a stimulating dialogue between contemporary art, science and new technologies in order to reflect on the impact of human activity on nature. Created with the assistance of researchers (engineers, biologist, robotics engineers, etc.), these works are hybrid entities, half device and half organism, that focus on issues related to the environmental crisis. The artist’s first solo exhibition in Canada is dedicated to his latest work, "Plantas autofotosintéticas", which he has carried out since 2013 in the contexts of various big cities. As Montreal celebrates its 375th anniversary, this installation invites us to envision the sewer network, which criss-crosses the city’s underground and is usually hidden away and outside of public awareness, as a system of real time energy and light production that makes it possible to keep an ecosystem in balance. A series of photographs excerpted from the project "Plantas nómadas" (2008-2013), a self-sufficient biological robot designed to live on the shores of polluted rivers, will also be displayed at the Maison du développement durable. Several educational outreach activities, to be announced at a future date, will accompany the exhibition.

Opening: Tuesday, May 9, 5:30 pm.