NAC hosts Architectures for Nostalgia

Sunday marked the opening of the NAC's newest exhibit, Architectures for Nostalgia.
Running from Aug. 31 until Oct. 19, Architectures for Nostalgia is a two person exhibition being displayed at the Niagara Artists' Centre, featuring collections from Colin Lyons and Andrea Kastner. Though vastly different in aesthetics, both artists' work are composed of many of the same underlying themes as they present the neglected areas of Montreal.
Lyons' work depicts many of the abandoned factories that make up the industrial end of Montreal. Using printmaking for its association to reproduction, as well as its connection between art and industry, Lyons captures the truly desolate side of abandonment, yet in this, finds a promising resolution.
"I'm really interested in abandoned buildings and the ways they grow organically," said Lyons. "The way through becoming dilapidated, the graffiti and other random human interaction, they take on new life."
Lyons' exploration involved the artist spending about 100 hours working on each piece, photographing the buildings countless times from all possible angles.
"The process is very important for what I'm talking about," said Lyons. "Essentially, what normally happens with any printmaker is, when they're finished, they take their plates, put an 'x' through it, and throw them in a drawer. What I do instead is solder them together. In one way, it kind of gives them a second life, and a lot of these buildings are being given second lives through becoming art galleries or studios, or lofts, or whatever. At the same time, it's also eliminating its possibility for function. Once it's soldered it can never be printed again, so it's sort of a two part, where the abandoned becomes completely obsolete in its original function by becoming an object."
While working on his collection, Lyons ran into problems; confronted by squatters who had taken up residence in some of the buildings. This, along with graffiti murals, provides an additional beauty to the buildings, many of which are in discussions for revitalization.
"I'm really interested in the possibilities of after the industry has left," said Lyons. "So it's not only the abandonment, but also the possibility of regeneration [...] you've kind of got a really interesting history to all of these as they undergo these transitions."
Where Lyons' work is based on the desolate industry area, Kastner's work captures the vibrant beauty of Montreal's alleyways.
"I see them [vibrantly]," said Kastner. "It's just my perception of them. I grew up around [these settings], it's my whole childhood."
Kastner's collection consists of collage-paintings done on plywood and recycled materials, originally inspired by her enjoyment of carving into the wood and a collection of bags her mother had saved. The paintings' often-luminous colour choices provide these works with a radiant energy to assist in Kastner's goal of capturing the city's inanimate and authentic side, what she calls the anti-facade.
"[The alleyways are] beautiful, they're more real than the front," said Kastner. "It's kind of what I'm getting at, this is the real side of the city, this is where everyone lets everything hang out and their identities express themselves."
"I was looking for a way to make the alleyways. They didn't really work as drawings or paintings; they were a little too romantic, glossed-over. [I wanted to capture] the real vibrancy of life, the real grittiness. So I started using these bags to make these alleyways."
Along with the bags, Kastner used a great deal of other materials, such as Metro tickets, wrappers and receipts, to help add character to her collages.
"You can read more stories into them, you can travel with them, find one thing, find another thing, get lost in them. It's like a little journal [...] I like them because they add a place and a time, like a personal log. It writes people into the landscapes, even though I don't draw any people."
Her collection also depicts the true colours of cities in general. From afar, it is difficult to see the collage aspects of Kastner's work, but up close, the details of them emerge and instill new meanings into the pieces.
"They're like a metaphor for a city," said Kastner. "You see it from afar and it's just a city, a skyline. But you get up close and you see people and individual little things going on that aren't quite right, some sketchy areas, the more interesting areas."
Ultimately, Lyons and Kastner's two-person exhibition is a beautiful portrayal of the Montreal that tourists rarely see and is a great addition to the NAC.
Architectures for Nostalgia runs at the NAC in St. Catharines from Aug. 31 to Oct. 19.