Francis O’SHAUGHNESSY
Performative Haïku
An art project on the concept of overcoming a love letter.
Paysage de soie ( Silk Landscape )
Thesis performance project of the PHD in the Études et pratiques des arts program at UQAM
O’Shaughnessy fell in love with a woman while on a performance tour. However, it was not the woman he fell in love with, but rather the landscape surrounding this woman. It was following this episode that love became the main motivation for his artistic process. Using the concept of a love letter, the artist developed what he calls the performative haiku: an approach combining love and performance art. He attempts to present poetic images that express the essence of an inner experience: an act of faith in love. In his performances, O’Shaughnessy endeavours to transmit positive energy and convey joy. For him, love is an interior resonance that is experienced in solitude; it is an occasion for self-discovery.
In Gallery I of CIRCA, Saturday April 5th at 5pm.
Born in 1980, Francis O’Shaughnessy is a Quebec visual artist of international repute. Since 2002, he has presented 120 performances in 22 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Recently his work was seen at the Nippon International Performance Art Festival (Japan, 2014), at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow (Poland, 2013), at the Weekend des musées in Alsace (France, 2013) and at Tehdas Teatteri (Finland, 2013). He has been the co-curator and artistic director of 20 large-scale events such as Art Nomade, Rencontre international d’art performance de Saguenay (2013), and has organized the exchanges Québec/Poland (2013) and Québec/Finland (2013). He regularly gives lectures and workshops on performance art to students at colleges and universities. He lives in Montreal.
