On the Walls: art you need to see this week

Kurt Cobain, by Joe Becker. 

Head to the McCord Museum for a regal experience: From Philadelphia to Monaco, Grace Kelly: Beyond the Icon serves up a chance to peek at the movie star and Princess of Monaco’s Royal Collection of swag. For most of us, this is the closest we’ll ever get to vintage Balenciaga, Yves Saint Laurent, Hermes and Chanel. McCord Museum (690 Sherbrooke), June 6–Oct. 6

Galerie Dominique Bouffard presents L’objet peinture, the first installment of the Extreme Painting series that kicks off this summer, featuring work by Isa B, Pascal Caputo, Sebastian Maltais, Nicolas Ranellucci and Andrew Smith. Vernissage, Galerie Dominique Bouffard (1000 Amherst), June 5,  6 p.m.

The 8-Day Week with Renata Morales at the PHI Centre offers no shortage of multisensory stimulation, including an exhibit of 45 works by mercurial artist Joe Becker, who says he “reworks lost genres of painting” by “infusing some more pop figures into the work,” creating a stunning series of dark, old world portraits of pop icons. Read more about Morales’ amazing event here. PHI Centre (407 St-Pierre), open daily June 5–12,  5 p.m.–12 a.m.

Hot Sluts and Poutine Sexy Pop Paintings! Now that I’ve got your attention, art collective Hot Sluts and Poutine bring their mantra of “promoting a ruckus of fun in all venues, locations and other appropriate atmospheres” to the BBAM! Gallery. Their work will be up for the next five weeks. Vernissage, BBAM! Gallery (3255 St-Jacques), June 6, 7 p.m.

The Darling Foundry celebrates its 25th anniversary with a huge party. Soirée Fer offers several vernissages, a fundraising art sale, open studios, cocktails and treats from Le Serpent in the gallery at 6 p.m. ($15), followed by a bangin’ block party on Ottawa St, with DJ sets from Poirier and Mini, live art and mad hijinks after 8 p.m. Darling Foundry (745 Ottawa), June 6, free

Vancouver-based artist Geoffrey Smedley showcases four new sculptures and lets us into his artistic process with his new exhibit at CCA titled Dissections. Roughly based on Descartes’ “The Description of the Human Body,” each structure takes on a different element of the philosopher’s fictionalized Clown’s anatomy. Vernissage, Canadian Centre for Architecture (1920 Baile), June 6, 6 p.m.

The Fringe Festival kicked off this week, and with it comes Galerie Fringe. This year, the annual art event features work from some 44 artists all on display at MAI. Nothing is off-limits and everything is expected. Vernissage, MAI (3680 Jeanne-Mance), June 7, 6–9 p.m.

“I look for something that gives me fear in the paintings,” says John Player, whose work will be featured at PFOAC this week. But the fear he is depicting is one that details detachment and distance, making for a moving selection of work. In the side gallery, Glenda Leon’s video “Inversion” screens, in which the artist takes the literal inhalation of money to have much deeper, metaphorical meaning. Vernissage, Pierre-Francois Ouellete Art Contemporain (Belgo Building, 372 Ste-Catherine W., #216), June 7, 6 p.m.

Allison Rowe’s Aid for USA and Canada is part collaborative performance also featuring sculpture and other forms of visual art. The task at hand is to explore the relationship between Canada, the USA and Haiti. Vernissage and roundtable discussion, La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse (4296 Saint-Laurent), June 7, 6:30 p.m.

The Wunderkammer Collective Presents: The Mile End Pop-up! Wunderkammer means “a cabinet of wonders” in German, and that’s a fairly apt way to describe all that you’ll find on hand. The art collective presents their an array of DIY, vintage, mixed media and prints at Espace Pop. Espace POP (5585 Parc), June 7–8, Friday 10 a.m.–9 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Finally, experience the sounds of the city in a new way, as Suoni presents a site-specific performance and field trip by Generator Montréal. The ultimate destination is a secret, but participants can meet up near midnight with a battery-powered FM radio, which Gambletron will turn into an improvised soundscape over the course of the group’s travels, before leading them to the final location for a sound and light show by Jen Reimer and Max Stein. In front of Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent), June 8, 11:59 p.m., free ■

By Kristen Theodore and Emily Raine