Jean-Paul Kelly: A sensation best described by another
Centre Vox, Montreal
June 15 – July 13, 2019
Jean-Paul Kelly is known for harnessing the malleability of what he’s called “documentary substance,” in terms of its implicit, suggested and potential narratives. His most recent solo exhibition’s central work, a three-channel video titled That ends that matter (2016–2019), places in proximity: a montage of mostly photojournalistic documents manipulated by Kelly’s hands, a synced animation of patterns and shapes echoing each of his gestures and a dramatized re-enactment of a court hearing witnessed by the artist.
In the darkened main room of Centre Vox, a succession of challenging (1950) and gay pornographic materials, this montage produces oscillating feelings of lust, empathy and dread, a mixture of sentiments rarely felt together, let alone in formal gallery settings.
