Montreal artist and writer Nelson Henricks has been invited to investigate Artexte’s audio-visual holdings.
Fall 2015
Though widely known as a resource centre for print documentation, Artexte also possesses a significant collection of audio-visual materials: films, videotapes, and DVDs; vinyl records, audiocassettes and CDs. The status of these objects varies: some are actual artworks and others are documentary evidence – secondary by-products that frame an artist’s practice and authorship.
In his recent research, Henricks has explored the modalities of making sound visible, using the notion of synaesthesia both as a generative strategy and as a tool for critical thinking. For his research residency, he is exploring the dual status of the material object containing time (a physical object that can be unfolded onto a temporal vector), an object that is simultaneously seen and heard. Henricks is also interested in the auratic presence of mass-produced objects: the physical lure that acts as an entry point into an ephemeral dimension.
Nelson Henricks was born in Bow Island, Alberta and is a graduate of the Alberta College of Art and Design (1986). In 1991, He moved to Montreal where he received a BFA in Cinema from Concordia University (1994). A musician, author, curator and artist, Henricks is best known for his videotapes and video installations, which have been exhibited worldwide. A focus on his video work was presented at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as part of the Video Viewpoints series in 2000. A mid-career retrospective of his work was presented at the Leonard and Bina Ellen Gallery in Montreal in 2010. Henricks is currently completing a PhD at UQAM.