This Thursday November 8, 2012, Venus Radio is pleased to welcome the visual artist Sheena Hoszko on our program to discuss her new site-specific light installation, “Red Light Monument: Floor Area of Café Cléopâtre Stages (500 square feet)”.
Red Light Monument can be seen in the area next to Saint-Laurent metro from November 2 – November 9 2012, with the finissage taking place at 6pm on November 9th.
Red Light Monument: Floor Area of Café Cléopâtre Stages (500 square feet) is a site-specific project that pays homage to lower Sainte-Catherine street and how it has been affected by the development of the Quartier des Spectacles. Located next to Saint-Laurent metro, an area of red light measuring 500 square feet is projected on the ground by outdoor event lighting installed above. The dimension of the lit space is the combined surface area of the upstairs and downstairs stages of Café Cléopâtre, a 30-year old cabaret and strip club located on Sainte-Catherine Street, and one of the last remaining sex clubs in Montreal’s historic red-light district.
Using the language and materiality of the large-scale cultural events that now take place in Quartier des Spectacles, this installation will be most visible after sunset, mimicking the visibility/invisibility of sex work in Montreal. The project will be illuminated during the hours of Café Cléopâtre, from 11am – 3am daily.
Red Light Monument: Floor Area of Café Cléopâtre Stages (500 square feet) pays homage to Café Cléopâtre and the manner in which it has resisted gentrification and continues to instigate cultural debate around sex work and labour, while also highlighting the role that contemporary artists play in the gentrification of communities.
A text by Émilie Laliberté of STELLA (www.chezstella.org) will accompany the installation.
The artist would like to thank : David Butler, Marie-Michelle Deschamps, Félix Desrochers, Ellen Gedopt, Adrien Fillion, Michelle Lacombe, Émilie Laliberté, Steve Topping et l’équipe de DARE-DARE.
Special thanks to: L’ensemble des travailleuses du Café Cléopâtre et à Johnny Zoumboulakis.
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Sheena Hoszko lives and works in Montreal. Centered on acts of physical and psychical orientation, her sculptural practice translates geographic sites to a 1:1 scale to function as alternative landmarks, anti-map drawings, or compasses of experience. Selected exhibitions include Your Name in Lights, The Helen Pitt Gallery (Vancouver), 2004; Mimic, La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse (Montréal), 2006; Approximations (Directions to not here) Rez-de-Chaussée Gallery (Glasgow), 2012, artist in residence, Villa Magdalena K (Hamburg), 2012. She has sat on the board of La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse as well as Rock Camp for Girls Montreal. Hoszko pursued her undergraduate studies at Emily Carr University of Art + Design and is currently completing an MFA at Concordia University.
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