NATIVE ART DEPARTMENT INTERNATIONAL | HIGH MAGICK | 16 NOV – 23 DEC, 2023
Patel Brown Montreal, Opening Thur Nov 16, 5-8pm
With text by Manuel Mathieu
“When I discovered art, I didn’t know it was the shortcut to connect us with our soul. I just knew it was a direct link to the invisible and a way to reach the infinite within us. Going back and forth between the coast of the known and of the unknown, I became a traveller.”
https://www.patelbrown.com/nadi-high-magick
Native Art Department International (NADI) is a collaborative long-term project created and administered by Maria Hupfield and Jason Lujan that began in Brooklyn in 2016 and is now based in Toronto. NADI seeks to circumvent easy categorization by comprising a diverse range of undertakings such as unannounced actions, curatorial projects, video screenings, paintings, collective art making, and mixed-use installations. All activities contain an undercurrent of cooperation and non-competition while at the same time functioning as emancipation from essentialism and identity-based artwork. NADI has been featured in exhibitions at Varley Art Museum (Markham), Museum of Contemporary Art (Toronto), and Mercer Union (Toronto). Their works are present in private and museum collections including Markham Public Art and Art Gallery of Guelph, as well as several corporate collections.
Manuel Mathieu is a multidisciplinary artist known for his vibrant and colorful paintings, which skillfully blend abstraction and figuration. His work explores themes of historical violence, erasure, and cultural approaches to physicality, nature, and spiritual heritage. Informed by his upbringing in Haiti, just after the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship, Mathieu’s art delves into the shared links and struggles that unite us across national borders. He holds an MFA Degree from Goldsmiths, University of London, and has exhibited his work in various countries. Mathieu recently received the Best Short Film Award at the 2023 Festival International des Films sur l’Art.
maria hupfield 