Week 25: May 19th
Being Alive Twice, One Long One, Maureen X, and more.
Welcome to Community Service, a biweekly newsletter featuring a curated selection of art and design events in Montreal. We’re back with our regularly scheduled programming to remind you that it’s time to get out of your apartment and support your friends (or strangers). This edition covers events happening at the end of May.
Book Tour: No One Hungers
May 22nd (7pm) - Location on RSVP
No One Hungers is the dual-launch of poetry collections No One Knows Us There by Jessica Bebenek (Montreal) & Familial Hungers by Christine Wu (Halifax). At 7:30, the poets will read from their new collections alongside poetry by Liz Howard (Letters in a Bruised Cosmos). Afterwards, there will be music by Andrew Whiteman (Broken Social Scene) as Poets Workout Sound System. This event is free, BYOB and you can get the exact location by dm’ing @notyrmuse on Instagram.
Vernissage: De Temps en Temps by Mark Lang
May 22nd - Duran Contemporary
In De Temps en Temps, Lang presents a compelling and immersive meditation on the fragility of civilization and the contradictions of the human condition. The artist’s work is known for its meticulous detail, symbolism, and ability to channel timeless themes through the lens of modern turmoil. This exhibition marks a significant new chapter in his career and invites viewers to consider the cyclical nature of conflict, renewal, and choice.
Vernissage: Being Alive Twice by Aidan Matthews
May 23rd (6-11pm) - Espace Transmission
Being Alive Twice, which I covered in my most recent special edition, is a compilation of images made by photographer Aidan Matthews between 2022 and 2025. The work evinces the camera’s ability to transform, augment and distill its subjects. By making associations between the resulting images, Matthews can free them from their initial reading, challenging photography as a tool for preservation. In doing so, he uncovers thematic, structural, and aesthetic connections amongst banal subjects. Ultimately, the work documents traces of time passing and instigates new interactions with the past, through our eyes, through the camera, and through the printed object.
Vernissage: Unifffffform
May 23rd (6-10pm) - 3051 Ontario Street East
unifffffform is a collaborative project that invites artists to express their creativity through a blank white denim set. Designers are given full creative liberty to express themselves through just about any medium such as: sewing, painting, tailoring, dyeing, deconstructing, etc. The resulting works will be displayed for one night only, highlighting how each participant has uniquely transformed the same starting point into their own personal creation. Each piece reflects a unique perspective while contributing to a collective display of wearable art.
Reading: One Long One
May 23rd (7-9pm) - Céline Bureau
We’re back with another edition of the reading series One Long One by Emily Zuberec and Rosemary Flutur. This one’s happening at Céline Bureau, with readings by: Hugo Dufour, Francesca Ekwuyasi, T. Liem, Tricia Middleton, and Olivia Whittick. There will also be a performance by Loeres.
Vernissage: Quelque part entre désirs et possibles by Médéric Corbin
May 24th (6-9pm) - Grover Building #298
Quelque part entre désirs et possibles brings together a selection of paintings by artist Médéric Corbin. The compositions are meticulously conceived to unfold in space a body folded in on itself. This body acts as a point of tension, isolated on the surface of each canvas. Reduced to elementary forms, it presents itself as the signal of a realization we struggle or refuse to admit. The artist’s relentless focus on this subject is palpable, and in a way, that is what his paintings and his text offer us: an invitation to insist. The images repeat themselves, driven by a hesitation between figuration and abstraction. Somehow, it is always the same painting, the same gesture. And yet, each time, a new possibility emerges.
Market: Petite Vente
May 24th (1-5pm) - JETA
Now that we’ve all done our spring cleaning, it’s time to get some new stuff, no? Head to JETA (5831 Parc) to check out some special objects at special prices, with designs by: Small Medium Large Studio, Séjour Studio, Sangaré Studio, Atelier Fomenta, Gabriel Page, Sarah-Jeanne Riberdy, Jeremy Paguet, and JETA.
Discussion: Art Hotline
May 25th (6:30-7:45pm) - Galerie La Centrale
The tea is hot!! At Art Hotline, artist and labor organizer Kriss Li and cultural policy analyst Hugo Dufour (Céline Bureau) will be discussing, contextualizing, and debating your questions and opinions about the role and job of artists and arts workers. They’ll tackle subjects like fame and success, political art vs political actions, gossip and money, and other art world survival tactics. They’ll even try to answer hard-hitting questions like, are artists inherently individualistic?
There are only 30 spaces available, and you can register via this form.
Vernissage: Maureen X
May 29th (5-10pm) - Fonderie Darling
Named after beloved programme administrator Maureen Kennedy, Maureen X is a retrospective of the last ten years of the MFA Studio Arts show. Curated by Armando Cuspinera and Danica Olders, and produced with the support of the Master of Fine Arts Studio Arts Student Association, Maureen X brings together the work of students from various disciplines outside their studios. This year's show will bring together more than 75 artists, each of whom will exhibit one piece of work. With so much talent in one room, this show is not to be missed.
Launch: Friend/Shapes Friend/Scapes
May 29th (7pm) - Osmo x Marusan
Friend/Shapes Friend/Scapes is a publication of poetry and photography by Laura Mota-Juang and Hannah Polinski. To celebrate, the two are taking over Osmo for a sensual evening of poetry and dance. Both will read from Friend/Shapes Friend/Scapes while friends Camille Huang and Meggie Cloutier-Hamel dance to the rhythm inspired by each poem. Afterwards there will be sounds from Gauji to close out the night. The doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8. This event is PWYC and nobody will be refused at the door.
If you have an art or design-related event you would like to include in future editions of the newsletter, you can fill out this form or send us an email at communityservmag@gmail.com
See you around.