On the Walls

A still from Janet Biggs’ Brightness All Around, part of her Arctic Trilogy series

Today’s your last chance to bid on original paintings by Omen and Serak, donated as part of Galerie Yves Laroche’s silent auction. Count your pennies, because proceeds will benefit Dans la Rue, a community initiative targeting the homeless — which is all the more critical as we head into serious cold weather.

Later this evening, head to the Fonderie Darling to see their lineup of exhibits for fall, featuring works by Olivia Boudreau, Blue Republic and Parisians Atelier Kawamata. The vernissage starts at 5 p.m. and goes late, with music from DJ Éloize in the evening. 745 Ottawa, free

Brooklyn-based video artist and photographer Janet Biggs’ exhibit arrives in town this week, in advance of the rest of the large multi-gallery Brooklyn/Montreal show. Biggs’ art explores the limits of human physicality and endurance, often in extreme environments like the Arctic north, the Bonneville salt flats or Peruvian volcanoes, so that even obtaining her footage is itself a risky performative act.

Biggs will have four pieces screening at the Musée d’art contemporain Montréal: three videos from her stellar The Arctic Trilogy series, as well as a new piece, “A Step on the Sun.” The show will be on display at the MAC until Jan. 6, 2013. The vernissage for Biggs and her Montreal partner artist Aude Moreau takes place tomorrow, Sept. 3, at 6 p.m. 185 Ste-Catherine W.

After a slight delay, Dominique Pétrin’s massive makeover of the Katacombes, Palazzo II, is being unveiled this week, with the venerable punk venue decorated with her signature poppy print motifs inside and out. Vernissage at Katacombes (1635 St-Laurent), Wednesday, Oct. 3., 5 p.m.

Monastiraki also welcomes a new exhibit this week, of images by Vancouver Carrie Walker. Walker’s weird and wonderful work often involves painting cute, almost Beatrix Potter-like animals onto found art, but she distorts proportions so that the even the mildest become menacing. The show’s up until Nov. 4. Vernissage at Monastiraki (5478 St-Laurent), Thursday, Oct. 4, 7–10 p.m.

This weekend, O Patro Vys celebrates its fifth anniversary with a two-day celebration. Friday, Oct. 5 is the vernissage for their new group show, featuring ten artists, including surrealist Heidi Taillefer, Dominique Goupil, Marc Gosselin and Amélie Legault. 356 Mount-Royal E., 8 p.m., free

Looking forward, good things loom on the horizon as newish gallery PHI Centre announces its first series of guest curators, and an all-star lineup at that. Xavier Dolan, Renata Morales, Suroosh Alvi, Pop Montreal and experimental director Godfrey Reggio (he of Koyaanisqatsi fame) are all slated to coordinate exhibits in the PHI space over the next year. (407 St-Pierre) ■