Archi-féministes! : Performer l’archives

Olivia Boudreau

Sorel Cohen

Raphaëlle de Groot

Suzy Lake

Claire Savoie

Jana Sterbak

Sophie Bélair Clément

Vera Frenkel

Clara Gutsche

Emmanuelle Léonard

Emmanuelle Léonard, Last Cars, GM (The End), 2004
Chromogenic print
70 x 90 cm
Courtesy of the artist


Emmanuelle Léonard
Last Words, GM (The End), 2004
Last Cars, GM (The End), 2004
Chromogenic print
70 x 90 cm
Courtesy of the artist
Photo : Richard-Max Tremblay


Emmanuelle Léonard, Meeting, TCA, local 1163, GM (The End), nos 1, 2, 3, 2004
Gelatin silver prints
75 x 75 cm (chaque)
Courtesy of the artist
Photo : Richard-Max Tremblay

Emmanuelle Léonard relates her work to the tradition of documentary photography, of which she reveals the underlying issues. This series of photographs deal with the General Motors plant in Blainville, which, after 30 years of operation, was closed in 2002. The colour photographs document the remains of the production from the outside—the only point of view allowed the artist. Black and white photographs show a union meeting of former employees. On the building, traces of the commercial lettering and signage are obvious testimonials to the end of an era, which Léonard underscores with her use of another rapidly vanishing technology—analog photography. In the hyper-masculine world of the car, the industrial traditions of fordism and organized labour are also affected, seeming already to belong to the past. At OPTICA, in 2007, Léonard exhibited “Une sale affaire” as part of the Mois de la Photo à Montréal.

M-E.C.