SNAP | society of northern alberta print-artists

review from VUE WEEKLY, June

Press Clippings - The fabulous clipjoint
Denis Lessard’s Press Clippings announces: “You’ve got males”

Women love to talk about themselves. Magazine racks bow under the weight of articles about the emotional trials of menopause and cures for reinvigorating relationships. Mothers of teenage daughters can peruse a cornucopia of books on the tribulations of raising girls in a patriarchal society. Numerous studies have been done on the effects of the education system on girls, with some tangible results: now girls can even go to special schools designed to provide the best educational environment for their development. Analysis of the use of eroticized female images as a marketing tool has become a sociological mainstay. But where are the men in all this? What flashing, subconscious images are boys exposed to? How do they affect male identity?

Denis Lessard addresses precisely these questions in his exhibition Coupures de Presse (Press Clippings), currently on display at SNAP Gallery. The very fact that he brings forth these silent issues demonstrates the extent to which they have been ignored. Perhaps the ideal man—the indefatigable hockey player—does not sanction a discussion of male identity. But Lessard shuns this tacit taboo and faces the issue of male identity squarely—like a man. Or is it like a woman?

In this exhibition, the stereotypes of male and female domains begin to blur—despite the fact that Lessard’s images are all derived from the media and the public domain: men are usually not espied in their private moments where we would expect their vulnerability to become apparent. But Lessard’s masterfully witty juxtapositions of images allow his male “subjects” to seem like human beings first, their gender-driven roles receding far into the background.

From puck to Pole
In “Odalisque,” for instance, Wayne Gretzky reclines on the inflexible surface of ice—the site of his many victories—his masculine, athletic figure gently languishing on the comfortable cushion of his uniform. The maple leaf, usually a symbol of team identity, becomes a rosette, reminiscent of the bouquet of flowers stereotypically depicted against the nude reclining poses of women. In the mixed-media sculpture “Lech Walesa Veut Renforcer Ses Pouvoirs” (“Lech Walesa Wants to Reinforce His Power”), Walesa is portrayed in a newspaper clipping at the height of his power. Lessard was intrigued to notice that within this image of a stalwart orator altering the course of history, was the contrasting image of the small, delicate icon of the Black Virgin pinned to Walesa’s lapel. Metaphors and connotations abound: the spiritual might of the female against the suit jacket of a man powerful in the secular arena; the timelessness of the icon juxtaposed with the immediacy of an image in a newspaper clipping; the tenderness of the Madonna’s face beneath the vigourous facial expression of the orator in mid-speech. Lessard does not moralize or comment; instead, he provokes the viewer into thinking, into smiling, into drawing his own conclusions about men’s images.

Another work, “Tendernesses,” depicts men publicly displaying affection towards each other. They are hugging, consoling each other in various political, historical and athletic settings. In the Québécois culture where Lessard comes from, such gestures of affection are more common and regarded as more natural—unlike the rest of North America. For Lessard such gentle interaction among men is vital; to his mind, gestures of peace create understanding. “Tendernesses” eloquently suggests that such expression is possible even in North America.

Magnum P.I.N.E.A.P.P.L.E.
Lessard’s search for a male identity has led him to examine the wider notion of identity itself. As he was working on the first project in this series “Un Mur D’homme” (“A Wall of Men”), he developed an interest in eastern Christianity. He waves the motif of male images of the sacred throughout the show. Some of the clippings recede into the background, while others are placed on wooden panels in the manner of Orthodox icons. An arched doorway reminiscent of an Orthodox Church is formed by framed quotations about male identity. (“It’s not always a bad thing if one makes a mistake here and there,” says one of the quotes, this one attributed to Germaine Guevremont. “It shows that he is not the strong man he thought he was.”) On one side of this doorway, the symbolic entrance to the work, is a raised, iconic image of Christ, the ultimate symbol of male power and gentleness. On the other is an “icon” of the actor Tom Selleck lounging amidst flowers behind an altar of orchids and a pineapple.

The artist delights in the ambiguity of this image, the sense that men are both attracted and repelled by it; the alpha male, the ideal of masculinity holds certain power over all men, none of whom can ever attain it but most of whom are willing to spend a lifetime trying. Lessard asks the viewer, “Who are you as a man? Who are you as a human being?” Even though he doesn’t provide an answer, the choice of images implies that the answer is a riddle, a paradox, one that may take a lifetime to answer. V

by AGNIESZKA MATEJKO

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