A special blend of wicked libidinal affects—exploring the quivering line between perfection and abjection—is one result of Chantal Rousseau’s chosen medium mashup. Painstakingly detailed watercolours are transmuted into animated GIFs. If you’re probing the values and speeds of contemporary attention like Rousseau is, these are the perfect vehicle. In this exhibition the lascivious torpor of snails is balanced by a brigade of plucky unsung characters, such as squirrels doing fitness training. The artist’s bio describes her practice in this way: “Playing off fleeting internet obsessions and subcultures, she intertwines humour and the macabre and makes feminism sexy.” She currently resides in Kingston, Ontario.
Chantal Rousseau, Squirrels Working Out: Push Up, 2017, watercolour animation GIF. Collection of the artist
Chantal Rousseau, Squirrels Working Out: Handstand Walk (still), 2020, watercolour animation GIF. Collection of the artist