6:30 PM: Topielec / Drowner: A Ritual for Spring by Marcela Szwarc
8:00 PM: Adrian's Awetopsy by Adrian Norvid
Featuring the work of Adrian Norvid and Marcela Szwarc, la Nuit Blanche à Montréal 2024 marks the closing of McBride Contemporain’s first exhibition of the year titled Best Friends for Never. For this event, in addition to discovering a series of drawings and paintings, the gallery will be presenting a two-part program of individual performances by each artist.
Inspired by traditional Slavic rituals in which effigies are symbolically drowned at the end of winter, Marcela Szwarc's performance Topielec / Drowner: A Ritual for Spring invites the audience to a symbolic welcoming of spring. In their upcoming presentation, Szwarc will engage audiences amidst bowls of water, conducting an informal paper-cutting and submersion ritual. Viewers will be encouraged to reflect on the process of transition and transformation within the changing seasons, and the artist invites them to ask this question: What can we let go of to make way for rebirth?
Adrian Norvid will be presenting Adrian's Awetopsy in conjunction with his large-scale drawing, Cadaver Café. The performance involves a full sized paper cadaver that is taken apart in the manner of an historical “flap anatomy”. The unfortunate deceased will be gutted with a view to examining the systems and organs of the body. Be prepared for blood and viscera. Expect the improbable. Bring a handkerchief. The weak of stomach and members of the medical establishment are urged to stay home.
This event is part of a wider program of activities taking place at the Belgo building, home to numerous galleries, artist-run centers and artists' studios, open to the public as part of la Nuit Blanche à Montréal 2024.