La Chèvre Rose gallery brings technology-focused art to Aylmer

Tashi Farmilo

A new contemporary art gallery in Aylmer is focusing on artists whose work examines technology, both as a creative tool and as a subject of reflection, according to co-founder and artist Étienne Gélinas.

La Chèvre Rose, located at 75 rue Principale, opened February 12 with a group exhibition featuring artists from the region and abroad. The gallery was founded by Gélinas and entrepreneur Francis Hétu, combining Gélinas’s background in fine art with Hétu’s experience in software development and artificial intelligence.

Gélinas said the gallery’s programming centres largely on artists whose work engages with technology in different ways, whether through digital production, mechanical design or broader themes connected to science and technological systems.

“Most of the artists we work with address technology in some way, either through their creative process or in the ideas behind their work,” he said.

Some artists use digital tools directly, including tablets and design software, while others explore technological ideas conceptually through sculpture, drawing or installation. Gélinas said the gallery’s curatorial approach allows for different interpretations of technological art.

“We curate exhibitions with different perspectives,” he said. “Technology can appear in the tools artists use, in the subjects they explore or in the ideas they question.”

Artists currently associated with the gallery include André Lemire, Gretchen Velarde, Hugo Gaudet-Dion, Mathieu Cardin and Gélinas himself. Upcoming exhibitions will highlight those different approaches.

Hugo Gaudet-Dion is scheduled for a solo exhibition in May featuring digital drawings created using tablets and software. In June, André Lemire will present “Paper Machines,” a series of sculptural works made from folded paper that function like mechanical devices.

“Lemire builds complex sculptural works that function like machines,” Gélinas said. “Their parts move and interact, yet they’re constructed entirely from folded paper.” He said Lemire’s work reflects on the role of technology in everyday life, and the expectations people place on it.

“Technology is often presented as something that will simplify our lives and improve them,” he said. “Artists sometimes ask whether that promise is always fulfilled.”

Future exhibitions at the gallery include a solo show in July by Peruvian artist Inti Zegarra, along with work by artists from Mexico and Italy.

Alongside his role as co-founder, Gélinas is also an exhibiting artist at the gallery. He said he has shown work in Ottawa and across Canada, the United States and Mexico for more than 20 years.

His own practice combines visual and scientific systems, including architectural plans, technical drawings and mathematical formulas. Gélinas said that approach developed through research conducted during his master’s degree in fine arts examining how painting fits into contemporary visual culture.

“Painting has changed meaning over time,” he said. “What it represented two centuries ago is very different from what it represents today.” He said technological change has transformed how people encounter images. Screens now deliver a constant stream of visual information through phones, vehicles and public displays, shaping how quickly viewers process what they see. “We are surrounded by moving images all the time,” Gélinas said. “That environment has changed the way people read and interpret images.”

Paintings, by contrast, often condense layers of information into a single surface and require time to interpret, he said. His work explores how painting can respond to a world dominated by fast-moving digital imagery.

For Gélinas, La Chèvre Rose offers a place where artists and audiences can engage with those questions while discovering new work. “Our goal is to present artists and allow people to encounter work they might not otherwise see,” he said.

Trad. : MET