September 21 – December 1
Pendulum (2024) is a newly commissioned two-screen film installation with sculptural elements. The film is Manuel’s first cinematographic installation. The work depicts the search for an equilibrium between the past and an uncertain future. A woman knowledge keeper carries on her shoulders her most precious legacy: the liberation of her soul. This legacy sets in motion a spiritual choreography in which a group of men master their own freedom as they confront the complexities of their humanity.
Manuel Mathieu is a multidisciplinary artist who explores themes of historical violence, erasure, and spiritual legacy through a unique abstract visual language. His art, influenced by his Haitian upbringing and immigration to Montréal, challenges traditional norms and conveys meaning through spiritual apparition. Manuel’s approach to his work is more about discovering than creating, which allows it to contribute to a shared consciousness.
Commissioned by the Toronto Biennial of Art and co-presented with Gallery TPW in partnership with MOMENTA Biennale de l’image with the support of CALQ. Made possible with the generous support of Galerie Hugues Charbonneau.
Bio
Manuel Mathieu (b. 1986; he/him) is a multi-disciplinary artist, working with painting, ceramics, film, and installation. Mathieu’s interests are partially informed by his upbringing in Haiti—just after the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship—and his experience emigrating to Canada at the age of 19. His art investigates themes of historical violence, erasure, resilience and cultural approaches to physicality, nature and spiritual legacy.
He is best known for his vibrant, colourful paintings, which deftly merge abstraction and figuration. His paintings materialize the instability of forms, perpetual movement and a sense of pareidolia – our urge to see patterns where none exist.
Mathieu suggests that global dynamics can manifest in a single place, with Haiti as the site of his own inquiries. He highlights the shared links and struggles that unite us despite national borders. When he approaches political themes, he does so from a personal perspective, through reflections on solitude, death, survival and desire.
His work explores our intertwined lives, in which the lines between past and present, personal and political, are often blurred. While he shares memories of his own life experiences, such as a convalescence following a serious accident, Mathieu also blends into his canvases a reckoning with the complex history of his homeland. He confronts questions that remain as urgent today as they have been throughout Haiti’s long history, unearthing the traumas of state violence. His work offers a space of reflection on Haiti’s history while inviting us to imagine its possible futures.
Mathieu’s concern for spatial organization, evident in his exhibitions at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and The Power Plant (Toronto), has now become the work itself, allowing the artist to explore Haitian culture and the major themes of his artistic investigation.
Mathieu obtained an MFA Degree from Goldsmiths, University of London. He has had solo exhibitions at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Power Plant (Toronto), the Longlati Foundation (Beijing) and K11 Art Foundation (Shanghai). The Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, De La Warr Pavilion (Bexhill-on-Sea, UK) and the Max Ernst Museum (Brühl) will present exhibitions by Mathieu in 2024 and 2025. Mathieu recently received the Best Short Film Award at the 2023 Festival International des Films sur l’Art.
Location
- Accessibility
Gallery TPW
Accessible entrance
Washrooms available
Gallery TPW has ramp access and clear, unobstructed pathways within the gallery. Please note that there are no automatic doors at the entrance or washroom and no designated accessible parking nearby.
Venue is AODA-compliant
For more information on Accessibility at Gallery TPW please click here.
Parking: Limited street parking is available on St. Helens Avenue or at nearby Green P locations.
- Getting There
Gallery TPW
Visitors arriving by TTC can walk from Lansdowne Station, take the 505 Dundas Street West Streetcar, the 506 College Streetcar, or the 47 Lansdowne Bus.
Donors & Supporters
Partners
![](https://media-backup-tba2024.storage.googleapis.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/29152508/LBX_Gallery-TPW.png)