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Dominique Blain

Mirabilia

Artist

Dominique Blain
Born in Montreal in 1957

Title

Mirabilia

Date

2011

Materials

Cut glass plates, integrated lighting

Dimensions

70 x 600 x 250 cm

Credits

This work was created in accordance with the Government of Quebec's policy on the integration of art and architecture, inv. 2015.335.1-38

Collection

Quebec and Canadian Art

Mirabilia explores a vast geographical, historical and aesthetic panorama of works that have been victims of theft, looting or destruction. These stolen masterpieces, which may have disappeared from public and private collections during religious conflicts, wars of conquest or natural disasters, or simply because of human greed, are represented here as luminous spectres. In this small enclosed garden, the harmony of glass, stones and light suggests a kind of cemetery of translucent tombstones, reminding us of the fragile existence of works of art.


Glass plates of varying thickness, cut with a water jet and displaying in their centre the silhouette of a once admired work, were processed and assembled into 38 box shapes to resemble tombstones. Illuminated by light filtering through the textured glass, the objects are stacked in volumes to suggest layers of memory. A cemetery of now-defunct works, Mirabilia glorifies the wonders that we have failed to protect.

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