Annie Briard is a Canadian interdisciplinary artist holding a BFA from Concordia University (2008), and currently undertaking an MFA at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver.
Focusing on reality-perception and our environmental relationships, Briard produces open-ended fables within fantastical universes as personal experiences for the viewer. Her works are created through diverse media including video, installation, painting and drawing, sculpture, digital and hand made animation.
Since 2008, Briard has exhibited across Canada and internationally. Her works have been featured at Art Mûr gallery, Articule, Studio XX, Joyce Yahouda Gallery, HTMlles media arts biennale and the Art Souterrain Festival in Montreal; the NFB mediatheque (Toronto, Canada), Three Shadows Photography Art Centre (Beijing, China), eMerge Media Space (Townsville, Australia) and the Swiss Architecture Museum (Basel, Switzerland), amongst others.
In 2009, she performed at Plum Gallery for Nuit Blanche Montréal, followed by a commissioned performance/installation at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. In the same year, she participated in an artist residency and the White Rabbit Arts Festival in Halifax, NS. Her work was featured in a two year, 10-city tour of China for the Canadian Cameras at Work showcase in 2009-2011. In 2011, Joyce Yahouda Gallery presented The Space in Between, a solo show of her interdisciplinary work. Briard is currently working on an interactive animation installation for a solo exhibition at G++ Gallery in Victoria, BC in 2012.
Annie Briard is also a board member for Studio XX artist-run center and Contraste Agence Culturelle, and is represented by Joyce Yahouda Gallery in Montreal.
Where does the self begin, and end? What is reality, and are the imagined and dreamed truly separate from our physical world? What about fleeting moments of personal exteriority and objective awareness; how do they fit in? These questions lie at the root of my work: explorations in the alignment and divergence between somatic and subliminal realities.
My process involves a careful walking of the line between the structures and conventions of reality, and the images and thoughts of the subconscious and dream realms. Through the fabrication of surreal fable worlds, incarnated for their conveyance of wonderment, I seek to create bridge-like or blurring moments between these diverging planes of reality.
Abstracting the appearance of the physical world in favour of the concept world allows for the emergence and use of new iconographies. With research in philosophy, psychology and neuroscience, I weave an interdisciplinary practice that blends both the digital and the hand-made, in video, animation, installation, painting and drawing. By de-contextualizing known experiences, an investigation of what happens to the relationships and surroundings that help constitute our realities becomes necessary. In doing so, I seek to nurture the suspicion that reality is comprised of far more than what the eye can see.
Solo
2013 (Upcoming) solo show, Joyce Yahouda Gallery, Montreal
2012 (Upcoming) "Mind Forest", interactive installation, G++ Gallery, Victoria, BC
2011 "the space in between", Joyce Yahouda Gallery, Montreal
2009 "Branchements" commissioned sculpture/performance, permanent collection,
Caisse des dépôts et placements du Québec, [CDPQ], Montreal
2008 "Ciel Rouge" curated by Krystal Anderson, Post Meridian gallery, Montreal
2008 " Red Selections" exhibition at Matricules launch event, Studio XX, Montreal
2008 "Arborescence Red" Nexus gallery, Montreal
Group
2012 (Upcoming) "World Event Young Artists" Festival, Nottingham, England
2012 (Upcoming) "Comment délaisser le sol et disparaître pour toujours",
Art Souterrain festival + Nuit Blanche, Montreal
2011 "Occupy Art", IE Gallery, Vancouver
2011 "U-N-F-O-L-D" Cool Stories for a Hot Planet collection III, curated by ArtPort
Projects, Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons University, New York
2011 “Screengrab” new media exhibition, eMerge Media Space, Townsville, Australia
2011 "Cool Stories for a Hot Planet collection III", curated by ArtPort Projects,
Swiss Museum of Architecture, Basel,Switzerland
2011 "Invisible", The Long Haul, Montreal
2011 "Arborescence", Art Souterrain festival + Nuit Blanche, Montreal
2010- Two year tour of "Canadian Cameras at Work" group exhibition
2011 curated by Travis Joern at Alliance Francaise galleries in Guangzhou; Hangzhou;
Nanjing; Chongqing; Jinan; Xian; Tianjin; Shanghai; Dalian; Beijing, China
2010 "The Wall Project: Transformations" series I, II and III, curated by Joyce Yahouda,
Joyce Yahouda Gallery, Montreal
2009 "Canadian Cameras at Work" group exhibition curated by Travis Joern,
Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China
2009 "Boudoir", Sensoria event curated by Karim Talaat, video screening,
Prague, Czech Republic
2009 "Fallings" installation and performance, White Rabbit Arts Festival,
Bass River (Bay of Fundy), Nova Scotia
2009 "AAVA showcase", Galerie Articule, Montreal
2009 "Pining" performance for Nuit Blanche, Plum gallery, Montreal
2008 "TAIS animation showcase", NFB mediatheque, Toronto, ON
2008 AAVA awards Gala and screening, La Sala Rossa, Montreal
2008 "Tree Hugger", The Void magazine launch and screening, Drawn & Quarterly,
Montreal
2007 "Friendly Fire", student exhibition curated by Joshua Barndt and Ed Janzen,
Art Matters festival, Galerie Art Mûr, Montreal
2006 "Seen and Herd" commissioned collaborative video installation,
Concordia University, Montreal
2005 "Le Show" interdisciplinary student exhibition, Le Local, Montreal
Stacey DeWolfe, "Long Haul Turns 10", Montreal Mirror, May 19, 2011.
Nicolas Mavrikakis, “Art Souterrain”, Voir, Feb. 28, 2011.
Les Rendez-vous d’ARTV, “Art Contemporain : Annie Briard”, ARTV, March 2011.
CISM, Un Show de Motarts, entrevue avec Annie Briard, March 2, 2011.
District Montréal, La Nuit Blanche à Montréal : Annie Briard, Feb. 26, 2011.
In Situ. Animé par Chantal L'heureux, invitées spéciales Annie Briard, Marie-Christiane Mathieu, Nelly-Ève Rajotte. CIBL Radio101,5, Montreal, 2 Feb. 2011.
Stacey DeWolfe, "In Montreal : Annie Briard at Joyce Yahouda." Akimblog, 1 Feb. 2011
Jocelyne Lepage, "Galerie Joyce Yahouda: grâce et ingéniosité." La Presse, 29 Jan. 2011
Amanda Dafniotis, "Annie Briard finds the space in between at Joyce Yahouda Gallery." The Concordian, 18 Jan. 2011
Un Show de Motarts, “La rentrée hivernale II.” Animé par Éloi Desjardins, invité spécial Éric Bolduc. CISM Radio, Montréal, 18 Jan. 2011.
Stacey Dewolfe, "On Display", The Montreal Mirror, January 13, 2011.
Robyn Fadden, "Lady arts", The Hour, January 13, 2011.
XX Files, host Valerie Walker, special guest Annie Briard. CKUT Radio, Montreal, 12 Jan. 2011.
Christopher Olson, "Heeere's Annie!" The Link, February 16, 2010
Stacey de Wolfe, "Late Night Montreal Online." The Montreal Mirror, February 18, 2010
Adam Avrashi, "Late night TV destined to hit the cybersphere." The Concordian, March 2, 2010
Canadian Cameras at Work catalogue, September 2009
White Rabbit Arts Festival catalogue, August 2009
Macadam Tribus, "Nuit Blanche: pour sortir de l'hivernation", Radio Canada, 28 Feb. 2009
Julien Ceccaldi, "Les Fleurs du Mal Magazine." The Frozen Mammoth magazine, February 2009
Les Regards blog, "Les peintures d'Annie Briard", December 2008
Lise Treutler, "Arborescence RED: Annie Briard's snapshots of our relationship to the environment." Indyish.com, May 2008
Willy Mak, "Arborescence RED." Community Critique blog, April 2008
Béatrice Bernard-Poulin, "Arborescence RED: Unusual fairytale theme breaks the green mold." The Concordian. April 2008
Soliloquies 11.1, "Environ-mental Problems" painting, winter 2008
Midnight Poutine. "Indie Arts: Les Fleurs du Mal Issue Launch", September 2007
© by Annie Briard