An exhibition curated by Didier Morelli
January 19 - March 30, 2024
Opening – January 18, 2024 – 6 PM @ Artexte
Artletics comes from artist and curator Didier Morelli’s fascination with sports, with the myth and desire surrounding the figure of the athlete that he has constructed over the years. Much like the visual arts, which have always been part of his life, play has also been at the forefront of his identity. His research at Artexte led him to focus on finding out how other artists, curators, and writers share this passion, how they embrace the realms of sport and play as a territory to draw from, intervene in, and channel through their practices.
In Artletics, Morelli offers an overview of practices by artists who examine the world of sports through a variety of approaches: by showing bodies in action, by discussing performance and competition, by sharing skills, by creating a link to the community, by revisiting memories, by moving from the collective to the individual, or by evoking the clan, group, or family. As the artists in the exhibition show us, sports are ubiquitous in our contemporary society, markers of our individual values and gauges of our collective beliefs. Sport is everywhere—you just have to look for it.
With artworks and contributions of: François Morelli and Florencia Sosa Rey.
Read the exhibition booklet HERE
Take a look at the exhibited documents and work HERE
Didier Morelli is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Art History at Concordia University. At its peak, his twenty-year career as an amateur youth soccer player saw him play for three teams simultaneously, changing from one kit to the other between tournaments in the back of his mother’s Volvo 240. He holds a PhD in performance studies from Northwestern University and his work has been published in Art Journal, the Canadian Theatre Review, C Magazine, Esse Arts + Opinions, Frieze, Spirale, and TDR: The Drama Review, among others. In his twenties, Morelli developed a passion for competitive running until a knee injury forced him to cease all athletic pursuits and re-evaluate his relationship to his body and to sport more broadly.
In addition to serving as curatorial research assistant for the career retrospective of the photographer Evergon at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec in 2022, he also curated Traversée/Crossing, a group exhibition that same year on the intersections of contemporary art and watersports at Stewart Hall Art Gallery. Morelli swims at the Olympic Stadium and enjoys leisurely hikes with his dog Cosimo.
Florencia Sosa Rey is a visual artist based in Tiohtiá:ke/Mooniyand/Montréal. Through a physical and somatic approach expressed primarily through abstract drawing and performance, she explores themes of residual memory and affect left by people and experiences. She holds a BFA in Studio Arts from Concordia University and continue to develop a physical practice through various professional workshops. Her solo and collaborative work has been presented in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Sudbury, the United Sates, Iceland, and Argentina. In the fall of 2023, she took part in the Fonderie Darling’s artists residency at the Gare de Matapédia in the Gaspé region. Florencia Sosa Rey has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, ARTCH, and the LOJIQ. She has also served on the board of directors for VIVA! Art Action since 2021, and as worked for several community organizations, including Centre Turbine, Agir, and CÉDA.