To mark the fifth anniversary of Le Labo, a laboratory devoted to creativity and design in contemporary jewellery, Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h will present an exhibition from September 18 to October 18 of innovative and unusual new work by twenty emerging artists from across Quebec.

Le Labo 2010-2015

A project dedicated to creativity, exploration, experimentation and reflection, Le Labo was initiated by gallery director Noel Guyomarc’h in 2010. Its goal is to develop approaches in conceptual, aesthetic and visual research in order to open up new creative avenues. The workshop, which takes place over a two-year period, has allowed a number of young artists to express themselves and to shed light on their imaginary universe, their personality, and their exploration of contemporary jewellery and its interpretation.

Early on, their works were shared and viewed on a number of specialized websites and on social media, both nationally and internationally. For example, Émilie Trudel was the recipient of the 2012 Prix François-Houdé, awarded by the Ville de Montréal and the Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec for excellence in the craft arts, for a project produced during the Le Labo. In addition to receiving the 2014 Prix des arts de la culture, awarded by the Ville de Québec, Anne-Marie Rébillard was selected for the prestigious international exhibition, Schmuck 2015, presented last March in Munich. A 2010 graduate of the École de Joaillerie de Montréal, Gabrielle Desmarais already has a work in the permanent collection of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

In addition, a number of these artists have participated in events in Toronto, as part of the lecture series presented by the Society of North American Goldsmiths, and in Vancouver, for exhibitions organized by artist Barbara Cohen at the Circle Craft Gallery. During Design Sans Frontières: Artists in Collaboration, an exhibition at Toronto’s Design Exchange museum, Catherine Sheedy was the recipient of the Best in Show Award for a work created with Sébastien Martel in 2013. This month, in an exhibition at Mode & Design Montréal, designer and Le Devoir contributor Jean-Claude Poitras featured three of these artists: Angela Marzinotto, Gabrielle Desmarais, Véronique Roy and Catherine Granche.

A catalogue of the participants’ works will be available during the exhibition.

The participants are:

Évelyne Bounadère, Marie-Maude Brunet, Emilie Dell’Aniello, Gabrielle Desmarais, Samuel Gélinas Lemay, Catherine Granche, Maude Lauzière-Dumas, Annie Loiseau, Katia Martel, Angela Marzinotto, Isabelle Métivier, Lidia Raymond, Anne-Marie Rébillard, Karine Rodrigue, Véronique Roy, Nazanin Rostami, Catherine Sheedy, Marianne Séguin, Magali Thibault Gobeil and Émilie Trudel

The only Canadian gallery specializing in contemporary jewellery, Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h has presented close to 90 national and international solo and group shows since it opened in 1996. Over the years, its activities have been described in many magazines and newspapers, both here and abroad. Along with Diane Charbonneau, decorative arts curator at the MMFA, Noel Guyomarc’h curated the exhibition Bijoux contemporains hors du commun, which was presented at the museum from March 2014 to March 2015.

La Galerie Noel Guyomarc’h wishes to thank SODEC for its support in producing the catalogue and this exhibition.