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Art Mûr, Montreal’s dynamic contemporary art gallery, is currently featuring the works of four accomplished visual artists who all explore how the nature of perception is taken for granted. Although each artist’s collection might seem acutely different from the others, each piece is more than it appears when submitted to closer inspection.

 Magalie Comeau’s fascinating collection, “Le vertige de l’organe à habiter sur le vide. Les petites Architactrices” uses oil paint to explore the viewer’s relationship to, and interaction with, space and architecture by creating images with distorted angles of interior and exterior spaces. Comeau dissects a space, splicing specific elements of an area together with other diverging spaces to contort angles and create an image that reflects the city’s gritty urban environment as well as its banal domesticity. Using sharp lines, bold shapes, and a muted palette of greys, Comeau’s work creates familiar and unrecognizable images. At times it is possible for the viewer to detect areas of reality in a sea of chaotic blending, but even after close scrutiny it is difficult to discern where one area begins and another ends.

 “Meditations on Black Lake,” a compilation by Nadia Myre, might appear to be large at first because of its colourful circular paintings. Upon closer inspection, the works are revealed to be replicated versions of glass-beaded patterns woven together with thread. Myre is inspired by themes of loss, identity, and yearning, and this collection acutely reflects her interests. The colour black is central to her works and infuses the images with a sombre and claustrophobic feeling. Although the horde of similarly hued beads can easily blend together and make individual detection difficult, her random placement of beads with contrasting colours reflects the ‘self’ located within a vast connection of others. Myre’s artwork is thought-provoking yet aesthetically simple in its attempt to divulge the human condition of solitude.

 Laurent Lamarche explores the limits between the art world and the scientific sphere in “Magnification,” a series of images made of reappropriated plastic. The pictures resemble items one would more likely see in a biology class than an art gallery. The circular shape is akin to a Petri dish or microscopic lens—the images he produces are ambiguous, but give the impression of being viewed from outer space, or of living organisms. Lamarche attempts to confuse and manipulate his audience, urging the viewer to ponder their understanding of authenticity by questioning whether or not the items being magnified are what they appear to be. The stunning detail and textural elements of each are impeccable and a definite feast for the eyes.

“4 Colour Separation,” an installation by artist David Spriggs, reflects on the contemporary digital age. His work is presented as four distinct units of colour; the primaries used in the CMYK process in print media: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Spriggs’ images are hazy and unfocused, giving the appearance of three-dimensionality and resembling a static television set. His minimalist artwork, which he describes as “stratachromes,” referring to images developed from layers of colour, explores perception and the hidden elements that cannot be detected in the CMYK process.

Art Mûr’s newest exhibition presents four independent artists who each hold unique perspectives on the materials and methods used to create stunning visual art.

The exhibit runs from March 3-April 21 at Art Mûr (5826 St. Hubert). Admission is free. Visit www.artmur.com for more information.