Arts Sutton Gallery announces the official opening of Sanctuaries, an exhibition of recent works in photography by Montreal artists Éric Dupuis and Sol Lang on Saturday February 9th.

The vernissage will be held on Saturday, February 16 at 2 pm, with the artists in attendance. The exhibition continues until March 9, 2008.

In the figurative sense, the word sanctuary means “protected, closed, secret, sacred place” (Petit Robert, 2004). This is without a doubt what these two artists want to express.

On one side, Éric Dupuis placed his camera at the heart of places that are without question perceived as sanctuaries- the churches. Yet this vision takes us into looking anew at the interiors and to pay attention to the quality of the light that penetrated them, its subtle play on the furniture, the materials, and the set-up of religious artefacts. “When I was a kid, mass was somehow a sensual rite for me, a mix of wonder for the light and sensations collected from the burning incense, the chants, the music, and the people”, quote the artist. Éric Dupuis is observing with interest the place worship has taken in our contemporary lives. It would seem other values, other rituals, are filling the landscape of society has we can see with churches that are converted into luxurious condos. Image courtesy of Arts Sutton and the Artist > Éric Dupuis, Ascension, photography, 38,1 X 25,4 cm

On the other side, Sol Lang brings us to a place that seems hostile at first glance, an abandoned factory in Lachine, Quebec, now completely demolished. This building was a haven for young graffiti artists where they could express themselves through their art without interference from police or the law. “I scream out, silently as my voice falls on deaf ears in the abandoned, waste of this environmentally hostile site, where polluting by-products of this facility are slowly seeping down and penetrating the soil underneath.” With this series of photographs, Sol Lang brings a reflection on the “sanctity” of religion, as he draws a parallel between it and the secret evils of greed in our society.

Two intimate visions with radically different aesthetics that merge through their perception of place.

A 50 pages catalogue of the exhibition featuring the works by those two photographers willl be for sale at the Gallery. It includes reproductions of all the images in the exhibition, plus extra images that follow the show's theme for a total of 36 full color images. The price is $19.95. The calalogue will be available in English and in French.

The Arts Sutton Gallery is located on 7 Academy Street in Sutton and is open Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Source: Catherine Audet for Arts Sutton Gallery 450.538.2563 | info@artssutton.com | www.artssutton.com