Sylvie Bélanger

Sylvie Bélanger (8 May 1951 - 8 October 2020) was a Canadian interdisciplinary artist using sound, video, photography and installation. She lived and worked in Toronto as an Associate Professor of Visual Studies at SUNY Buffalo until her retirement in 2017. Where after, she moved to Montréal.^[1]

Sylvie Bélanger
Born	(1951-05-08)May 8, 1951 Le Gardeur, Québec, Canada
Died	October 8, 2020(2020-10-08) (aged 69) Montréal, Québec, Canada
Education	Concordia University, York University, Université de Montréal
Known for	installation artist, video artist

Early life

Bélanger received an MFA from York University, a BFA from Concordia University and a Baccalauréat in Philosophy of Religion from Université de Montréal.

Work

Bélanger exhibited her multimedia installations across Canada, USA, France, Germany, Spain, England, the Netherlands, Japan, Thailand, Philippines and China.

Joan Murray discussed her works such as He and She (1992) in "Canadian Art in the Twentieth Century" (1999)^[2] saying it was witty and mysterious. In 2002 Bélanger was commissioned to create public art for the Bessarion subway station in Toronto. The work is a series of friezes of hands, feet and backs of heads, which represent the users of the station. The feet images appear on the concourse level while the heads appear on the platform level. The hand images appear along the stairs between the Sheppard Avenue side entrance/exit and the concourse.

Death

Bélanger died on 8 October 2020 of cancer at the age of 69.^[1]

Collections

• Gemeente Museum, The Netherlands,
• Oakville Galleries, Ontario^[3]
• Art Windsor-Essex, Ontario^[4]
• Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec^[5]
• The Canada Council for the Arts Art Bank^[6]
• Art Gallery of Guelph^[7]
• Woodlawn Arts Foundation, Toronto

Awards

Bélanger was the recipient of the Stauffer Prize awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts^[8][9]

Further reading

• Bélanger, Sylvie and Lorenzo Buj. "Meditation." Reading the Gaze. C. Barber, S. Kivland and C. Leyser, (eds). London: Bookwork, 1991. 51-70.
• C. Christie. "Sylvie Bélanger." Canadian News Makers. Toronto: Gale Canada, 1997. 48-51.
• Allucquère R. Stone, M. Heim, D. de Kerckhove, L. Dompierre Press Enter, Between Seduction and Disbelief. Toronto: The Power Plant. 1995
• Cheetam, Mark. Remembering Postmodernism: Trends in Recent Canadian Art. Toronto: Oxford, University of Toronto, 1991. ISBN 0-19-540817-9
• The Cutting Edge Women's Research Group, editor. Desire By Design: Body, Territories and New Technologies. 1999. 82. ISBN 1-86064-280-2
• Grande, John K. "Intertwining: Artists, Landscape, Issues, Technology" 1998. 105 ISBN 1-55164-110-0
• Jolicoeur, Nicole. Emettre du silence in Trans-mission. Montréal: La Centrale/Powerhouse Remue-Ménage, 1996. 68-73.
• Marks, L.U. "Press / Enter", Artforum (Sept. 1995): 97.
• Murray, J. Canadian Art in the Twentieth Century. Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1999. 272-93.
• Ylitalo, K. "Sylvie Bélanger." Redaktion Allegmeines Kunstlerlexikon. München-Leipzig, Germany: K.G. Saur Verlad 2008.
• "Tu me manques" Art Forum Azamino. (vol. 3, June 2007)
• "Sylvie Bélanger at Portside." Madame FIGARO. #342 (06/06/2007): 78.