My performances pay tribute to the surreal images that haunt my unconscious mind in regards to the world’s current situation. With crazy invented characters and an unhealthy attraction to kitsch, I encourage people to self-mockery and to be aware of the ill-being of our consumption society and the imminent consequences of our apathy.
BIO /PATRICK LONERGAN If he would have had the choice, Patrick Lonergan would have preferred to stay in his mother’s belly instead of being born in Québec City in 1983. He discovered art through violin at the age of four. Passionate for music, the lunatic pupil entertained himself by going to the movies, where he learned to tell stories. A few years late, as a student in cinematographic studies at Concordia, in Montreal, an optional class in HIV-AIDS changed his way to see the world. When he worked as a volunteer in a residency for HIV-positive people, Lonergan’s fears and prejudice were uncovered and he decided he had to do something. He took part in an art exhibition related to HIV-AIDS that he wanted to film, but his camera broke. He took pencils and drew his surroundings. For Lonergan, beauty for the sake of beauty is useless. He informs himself about political art and creates six posters on themes he had seen in class: HIV, prostitution, drug addiction, lack of sexual education, etc. The success is immediate. The artist understood that poster art is an ideal way to express his point of view. “The poster being often used by media and companies to sell their products, I thought to myself that I could ironically use posters to denounce the shallowness of our world of consumption.” Translation of the summary of an article by Olivier Poulin, published in the magazine Sortie in May 2009. |
