A cultural destination in the only uniquely French city in the Americas, Parisian Laundry is an unparalleled industrial 3 storey commercial exhibition and project space that represents living Canadian and non-Canadian artists and rotates solo presentations of their current and actual practices. Situated in the historically blue collar neighborhood of St. Henri in Montréal, the gallery took over the 15 000 sq feet space in 2001 and after four years of intensive restorations transformed the former commercial laundry into a unique exhibition space. Visitors encounter concrete floors, massive hardwood beams, steel and glass. Floor to ceiling windows flood the two exhibition floors with natural light making the spaces ideal to showcase artists’ works. The gallery’s pièce de résistance is the former mechanical room; a two storey concrete ‘Bunker’, an ideal space for media works and projections as well as site-specific installation, sculpture and sound projects.
Conceptually interested in the inter section of real / artificial and this slippage in the visual arts, director Jeanie Riddle joined Parisian Laundry in August 2005, and, since then, has shaped an identity for Parisian Laundry, positioning it as a primary platform for contemporary art in Canada.
Riddle, actively seeks out artists that challenge and excite collectors and arts professionals. NYC based, living American artists such as Kalup Linzy, Alex Da Corte, Adam Parker Smith and David Humphrey have all been featured in solo context as well as Canadian artists, such as the critically important collective, Québec City based, BGL, Toronto based new wilderness painter, Kim Dorland, the incomparable Valérie Blass, as well as new talent such as Rick Leong, David Armstrong Six, and Clint Neufeld all illuminate a particular relationship with everyday realities into a fictitious or fabulist realm. Programming is divided throughout the 3 exhibition spaces with a rotating group salon show complimenting 2 concurrent solo or curated projects.
Recent programming includes the Canadian premiere of performer Kalup Linzy, the dazzling first commercial solo of Valérie Blass, a 3 floor museum style retrospective of BGL as well as an annual Masters of fine arts group show, which offers first commercial solos to some of Canada’s freshest talent. A commitment to invitational collaborations with important Montréal based projects such as the Biennale de Montréal, have featured Ignacio Ituerria and Luis Jacobs | Noam Gonick. The Mois de la photo with Eve Sussman and the Rufus Corporation all heighten the gallery’s profile of engaging excellence in the visual arts.
Parisian Laundry maintains an international nomadic profile through a publication program as well as participating in major art fairs that offer critical solo platforms for artists; VOLTA in Basel & NYC, NEXT, Chicago, NADA fair, Miami Beach and Art Toronto.
