Venissage night!

Last Night was the vernissage of The Dentist and the Toothfairy...Exposed. What a night that was! We had some rain all day following this mini-heat wave that we experienced all week and it was HOT! But it did not stop everyone to have a great time. The party pretty much was inside the gallery as well as outisde to cool off a bit. So many people showed up for the vernissage, friends, new faces, faces from the past, in short, a fantastic array of people. I brought my camera but i got so busy talking to guests that i was only able to take a few pictures. So here they are on this post, if you read this and have some pics in your camera, send them my way, I would love to see them!

D is for Danika

Danika is a punk rock princess.She goes beyond her what her entourage lacks. She will show you things. She is bold enough and clever enough to grab your attention. She overflows with artistic ideas that she funnels into her fashion, her art, her performances, and her body.

She draws crowds and is the pied piper of her own show, one that she pulls you in and makes you participate. That is her talent. She has decided you will be a part of her ride, and so you are.The piece is a portrait of her and her alter ego Demonika.Chrome. Black. Red. Sharp-edged. Sleek. Dangerous.
The length of this piece is the tall thin elevator that she rode after visiting the dentist. This elevator led her to an eerie encounter that made this tooth that much more poignant.

The canvas for this picture is an old wooden step.

The skull is Demonika, and the goosenecks represent her vision. The light is for when she puts herself on display for the world to see.

The heart is from the book… as Danika is an absolute sweetheart.

This piece is now showing at Headquarters gallery.

1649 rue Amherst

Montreal QC

514-678-2923

D is for Danika – Jerome Prieur 2008

Mixed Media – Ink on Paper

Donated Tooth - Danika Challand
Special thanks to Aline Plante & Rachel Starr.

41”x 6” x 6”

Sold

3 Lights and a Shadow

Kelly would be my non-sibling twin. We have so much in common and are following quite similar paths.

We met working in lighting, a field we both get genuinely excited about. For both of us music and art are integral and motivating. Music is her passion, and I have facilitated her pursuit of art - she is both an aficionado and a burgeoning artistic talent. She is curious and loves to learn. She loves to travel, explore and discover new possibilities. This is one of her absolute strengths, and her most dynamic trait.Kelly and her family design and build things, and in that, our families are interesting parallels. Her piece is both a curio cabinet and a portrait.

It has 4 sections.
The top section has a small hand drawn treble clef. This represents the music in her life.

The second is a glass step light. This represents our interest and commonality in lighting. The way we met.

Thirdly, is an etched mirror that represents, and is a small piece of original art. We see ourselves in art. We look at it and we see things about ourselves reflected back in the pieces we covet.

Lastly, is drab blue plastic box, and this is the only square not lit, and the one that holds her retainer. It is from the past. There is nothing to be pursued, but rather something that contributes to all the others. It is something that exists in the shadows.

Kelly has talked about having to wear this as she was nearing adulthood. It is hard to imagine that this vibrant and dynamic woman had something that acted as an annoying and identifying ever-present element of self-consciousness.

Now stand back and look at the piece again. As much as it is a curio cabinet, it is also a portrait.
Kelly Marie Inglis

Age: 27

Retainer life span: 1993 – 1999

From Kelly;

“I am creative and spirited individual. I am also known to have rather large teeth with an even bigger smile. My eye for design is always searching for unique visual presentation. I love to collect art and I want to travel the world to encompass inspiration. Metal head for life.”

This piece is now available for sale at Headquarters gallery.
1649 rue Amherst
Montreal QC
514-678-2923

3 Lights and a Shadow – Jerome Prieur 2008

Mixed Media
Donated Dental Enhancement (retainer) - Kelly Inglis
Special thanks to Aline Plante.

14 “x 18 “x 6 “

Destoyed in a fire (Montreal 2009)

Families Fused

I met Danielle through my friend Kelly, who is also a part of this show. For clarification see the piece entitled 3 Lights and a Shadow.What to do with so many teeth! This is the kind of venture that has to be perfect…

Danielle bought a little crystal chandelier a few years back. It was bright, modern, elegant and impactful. When I think of her, I tend to think of this chandelier. So when she sent me 11 baby teeth, I thought of a chandelier, but was not sure of how to progress.While taking a break (from the conceptualization of this show) my mother casually offered me my father’s last Chemotherapy pill bottles, asking if I would be of use.

There were 11 of them.

Danielle has her mother and grandmother tattooed on her arm. A bold and amazing homage to the women in her life it is a fusion of ink on skin. I never fought with my dad. I respected him and he respected me, we saw each other as father and son, fellow artists, businessmen, and adult peers, but I do not get tattoos.

This chandelier is my fusion. Inside each pill bottle crystal is one baby tooth. A man at the end of his life, and a young woman who was just starting hers come together for a piece that links two complete strangers whom are linked through their familial bonds and their deep respect of family and knowledge of what that means.

I have met Danielle’s mom, and I only wish she could have met my father.

This chandelier is the first meeting of two kindred.

This piece is now showing at Headquarters gallery.
1649 rue Amherst
Montreal QC
514-678-2923

Families Fused – Jerome Prieur 2008

Mixed Media

Donated Teeth - Danielle-Marie Smith.
Special thanks to Aline Plante.

41” x 12” x 12”

Sold

A Candle for Crown

This is the sole piece interpreted entirely from the book The Dentist and the Toothfairy.I received one crowned tooth for this show; it was donated by my long-term friend Ruzica. As soon as I saw it I realized how incredibly appropriate it was to this show and the themes we wanted to pursue and highlight.

In The Dentist and the Toothfairy, the dentist has a son named crown. Crown dies and this is an integral part of the book’s themes of love and loss. I have lit a candle for the Dentist’s dead son. You’ll have to read the rest to find out how it ends… it is in the book.

This piece is now available for sale at Headquarters gallery.

1649 rue Amherst

Montreal QC

514-678-2923

A Candle for Crown- Jerome Prieur 2008

Mixed Media

Donated Tooth – Ruzica Krajcic

Special thanks to Aline Plante.

29 “x 11”x 9”

Sold

Family tree (it's personal)

Life. Death. Wisdom. Family.

An homage to Jules Prieur.

1934 – 2008.

This piece contains my father’s dentures, my wisdom tooth, and baby teeth from my niece Chloe and my nephew Raphael. My mother salvaged my father’s dentures for me after his death, and my sister donated the teeth of her growing children. I am asking 850.00, but it might as well be marked at 1, 000, 000.

This piece is now available for sale at Headquarters gallery.

1649 rue Amherst

Montreal QC

514-678-2923

Family Tree – Jerome Prieur 2008

Mixed Media

Donated Teeth - Jules Prieur, Jerome Prieur, Chloe DuPont, and Raphael Lesage

Special thanks to Aline Plante & Rachel Starr.

37 inches x 17 inches x 16 inches
Destoyed in a fire (Montreal 2009)

Nikki’s Totem

When I was soliciting for stories for this show, I received this amazing story from fellow artist Nikki Henderson. I will give you the story and I will let you interpret the piece, I feel it is self-evident, and an example of why these stories are relevant and personal themes for art (and life).

I took the receipts from Nikki’s ordeal and incorporated them into a piece that I felt represented strength and identity.Upon working with the receipts the part I did not expect was for the ink to run, making the history illegible yet staining the paper, thus making those words a colored wash over the entire paper. A brief detail that becomes integral. This was an unexpected but poignant addition to Nikki’s Totem. Entering an ordeal in one form and emerging in another is not an uncommon experience.

If you read her story, it will tell you more than I can.


Her story:

I started just writing out lists, but I found that most items needed an explanation.

Furthermore, it wasn’t just a monetary loss. I pretty much slipped into a depression from the exhaustion. It is easy to become unmotivated when you are always tired. For a long time every ounce of energy, whether I could spare it or not, was focused on my health and trying to find ways to improve it to a somewhat normal state.

It was the Thursday evening before Easter long weekend last year. I was eating popcorn and I cracked a tooth off with a kernel. It didn’t hurt, and the dentists were all closed anyway, so I decided to make an appointment the following week. There was a three week wait for an
appointment, and in the meantime my cheek swelled up so much that I could hardly see or talk.

They squeezed me in sooner than they had planned but the infection had to be taken care of before the tooth could be removed.

These were the major costs:
penicillin 300 mg for 10 days $10.41 (antibiotics)
penicillin (rpt) 300 mg for 10 days $10.41 (antibiotics)
clindamycin 300 mg for 7 days $38.58 (antibiotics - this is the kind that put me over the top,
and I’m certain it would have become a lot worse if the pharmacist’s assistant had not
pulled me aside and recommended that I watch out for certain things)
fluconazole 150 mg for 3 days $38.79 (antibiotics - ironically to help counteract the side
effects of taking too many antibiotics)

I should also point out that most of these antibiotics were to be taken 4 times a day, as evenly
spaced as possible. Waking up to take meds in the middle of the night was exhausting and
troublesome for someone who was in constant pain and needed sleep to heal.

ibuprofen 600 mg for 8 days $10.28 (painkillers)
oxycodone 5 days worth $14.01 (painkillers - came with warnings that they were
highly addictive; after my second dose the room was spinning and I couldn’t stand--that
was all that I took)

I also went through at least two bottles over the next few weeks of over-the-counter painkillers like Tylenol and ibuprofen. I know this sounds like a lot, but if you’ve ever had tooth pain you’ll know exactly what I am talking about. There were also, of course, several trips to the dentist (sans dental plan) totalling $1108. I have included all of the costs of my successive visits as well; I went into a panic at the thought of going through this again and insisted on bringing any necessary dental work up to date.

When the tooth finally came out, there was a hook on the end of the root. My dentist had to twist and pull repeatedly and I was in tears. It took hours for the bleeding to stop and the infection was still there so that’s when I went on the clindamycin and the oxycodone. The continual use of antibiotics created an imbalance in my digestive system, with effects similar to food poisoning. It was a gradual decline and was easily passed off as the stomach flu until it became more severe.

By the time I realized what was happening, my body was infected, starving and dehydrated.
I don’t even know where to begin to calculate the money I lost from missing work. It all started in March and I left in July. My boss was very generous at first with sick days, but then I had to provide doctors’ notes or I would be let go. This was the most demeaning part of it all. My doctor would not give me a note, insisting that I could work, but failed to understand that my job was very physical (walking and lifting 40 hrs per week) and I currently needed a nap after walking only 2 blocks. I agreed to forfeit my full time position and was eventually able to work a daily 3 hr stretch.

After a few weeks I ended up leaving all together, as the stress of the bullshit, high school politics were continually wearing me out and my health (mental and physical) was more important than my job.

Other expenses:
For almost a month my diet consisted of yogurt, organic vegetable broth with lots of green onions (I kept craving onions, which I usually avoid, and I found out later that they are great for detoxing a strained system) or pureed vegetable soup, and gatorade. My doctor told me I had to eat as much Activia yogurt as I could stand (about 1/3 litre per day was my limit) and 2 litres of gatorade per day to rehydrate my body. I am so not kidding. Did you spot the irony here? I was constantly brushing my teeth to combat all of the sugar I was consuming.
Eventually I could eat wheat-free, preservative-free crackers, and then other things like small amounts of wheat-free pasta, peanut butter and other nuts, apples and organic juices, rice, and, yes, popcorn (organic and butter-free).

When I tried something that I longed for but that wasn’t acceptable, I would get horrible stomach cramps. I later developed some food intolerances with side effects such as mood swings, headaches, and hives. I have since isolated these foods and with my new diet I can still enjoy them periodically.

I am still taking Acidophilus -- a $15.99 bottle will now last me the usual 2 months, instead of a few weeks. I guess overall this is actually a significantly less expensive diet than I would have normally had, although initially much food went to waste as Lee was actually living in Saskatoon at the time and was only home periodically. He did have to make a couple of emergency trips back as I was freaking out at every new symptom or side effect that arose.
After hours and hours of researching for a new, more permanent diet and a useless trip to a
nutritionist, I eventually bought a $15 health book that a friend recommended to me. It turned out to be one of the best things that I have ever done. It explained how the different components of our bodies work together and how to eat the right foods that will help your body heal itself. My diet has completely changed now and fortunately I am required to eat mostly vegetables which are quite affordable.

I feel better and am consistently in a better state of mind than even before I got sick.
You had commented in one of your emails on how I was able to keep a positive outlook, despite all of this shit. I’m not sure it quite works like that. I haven’t always taken great care of myself and I think that in the realm of health disasters I got off really easily. It seemed to force me to do (or notdo) a lot of things at first, but in the long term it has allowed me the opportunity to change my life and I am now close to doing exactly what I want to for a career.

This piece is now available for sale at Headquarters gallery.

1649 rue Amherst

Montreal QC

514-678-2923

Nikki’s Totem – Jerome Prieur 2008
Mixed Media
Donated Dental Records (receipts) – Nikki Henderson
76 “x 12” x 12”
Destroyed in a fire (Montreal 2009)

There is a problem with Susanne

5 living artists inspire me. Susanne Apgar is one of those artists. When I met Susanne in 2000, I fell in love with her style, her art, and with her. I will be bold and state that I have a crush on Susanne.

Whenever I see a new piece by Susanne I want to keep it.

I would love to get into her brain and understand how she sees the world and how this translates to canvas. She inspires me and she makes me expand my perceptions of art.

She is an avant-garde genius that cannot be touched.For her to give me this X-ray is humbling. I cannot match her talent, but this is my homage to Susanne the artist.Repeated themes in Susanne’s work are genetics, science, medicine, and their interaction with the living human body. Human, animal and fauna are living creatures that can be meddled with in laboratories by those with a vested interest in altering perfection in an attempt to achieve what they are destroying.

These were the 3 elements I drew for this piece.The canvas is a door my father made that was rejected due to an imperfection. The canvas is the showcase for those things in life that are also rejected for their imperfections; a fate that often befalls the subjects of Susanne’s painting.

The first piece I purchased of Susanne’s was “The New Gene Circus” and flags were a central theme to the series (and the piece I acquired), in which voiceless and mutated creatures communicated through flags. My family defined themselves with flags.

When I was a child, Ste Anne’s Birthday was celebrated feverously in our town of Yamachiche. All the citizens put up flags in her honor and all houses would pay homage to her and we were united in this as we identified as Catholics, family, and community members through this sacred act.

Five of these flag holders were incorporated into Susanne’s homage, and these were in my family’s possession for more than 30 years. Every year they rusted, and every year they were filled with newer versions of flags that said and communicated the same thing.

They reminded us and reaffirmed that things were as they had been the year before and that we were safe. These rituals were to remind us of our imperfections. Now they speak a different truth, one that challenges and empowers. The passages proclaimed by the flags are extracted from The Dentist and The Toothfairy and are phrases that remind me of Susanne’s work. I feel it is a perfect fusion between our works.

The red light is a subtle red… blood split behind the scenes in our search for perfection.

This piece is now showing at Headquarters gallery.
1649 rue Amherst
Montreal QC
514-678-2923

There’s a Problem With Susanne – Jerome Prieur 2008

Mixed Media - Acrylic and Ink on Wood

Donated Dental Records (x-rays) – Susanne Apgar
Special thanks to Aline Plante.

24”x 18”x 13”

Sold

Written in Bone

I met Grant Cunningham at Le Festival Des Arts in Montreal, where he was showing in 2001. Instantly I was drawn to his art, and was even more pleased to find that I actually liked the guy. I have mentioned that I am inspired deeply by five living artists; Grant is one of those artists. Living with Grant’s art is a toxic, truthful addiction, and I live with many of his pieces.

His work is not interpretive. He spells out what we may not want to hear and see. This is good for me, as it makes me question life and our social role(s). He represents layers of social interactions in a single image. He gives just enough information to make us realize the impact, implications, and reality of the mundane day to day interactions with other humans.His art makes me stop and think.Grant’s painting The Bottom was the inspiration for this piece.The Bottom is very Grant in my opinion. I see a self-portrait. A man is riding a fictional fish into the dark underwater, navigating past pollution and waste. Whether or not the man tamed or commandeered the fish I do not know.

Grant’s life, without going into details, has seen chaos, and the painting takes place underwater and muted among pollution and disorder.Among the toxins that we live among, there is still life and movement.

In my piece, the metal box belonged to my family; it survived 4 generations of Prieur men, and saw all of us during our business ventures. It was built around 1910, by Rockefeller in Verdun (where both my dad and Grant are originally from), and functioned as a dowel box. It was passed down through 3 generations of furniture artisans and in time it was passed from my great-grandfather to me. It was present through every aspect of our family’s successes and failures. It was a central piece that represented our living through the arts.

My family was populated by artists that worked in wood, and when I inherited this box it held the rags I used to clean my brushes and to blend my paint with. By the time I got it, it had achieved a sacred status, no longer a simple profane box.I placed a light inside to highlight a slide of the dentist and the tooth fairy to which I attached Grant’s tooth. I liked this fusion between my work, my friend, and an endeavor of mine that would pay homage to an endeavor of his.

A green light bathes the underside of this piece. The Bottom is painted in murky blacks and greens while the light from above penetrates the water and filters through to the bottom. A wonderfully ominous glow is the result.

A wooden carving comes down from that metal box. It represents my family through their art, and my friend Grant’s art (as I see it as a creature with movement, much like those underwater dwellers in The Bottom). The canvas is a piece of wood from my parents’ nightstand. If any object sees more intimacy in a family it is bedroom furniture. I think of all the conversations it overheard. Discussions around money, surviving in business, making a family work and the amazing artistic conceptualizations it must have been privy to, and I feel it is a perfect canvas for this piece.On it I have drawn twin skulls adorned with hieroglyphics that are exact copies of text that Grant uses in some of his pieces. My friend lost his twin brother when he was young. I could not pay homage to my friend without including his brother in this work.

My homage is to all of you my friend.

This piece is now available for sale at Headquarters gallery.

1649 rue Amherst

Montreal QC

514-678-2923

Written in Bone – Jerome Prieur 2008

Mixed Media - Acrylic and Ink on Wood

Donated Tooth – Grant Cunningham

Special thanks to Aline Plante, Bruce Whitehead, and Rachel Starr.

58 “x 23 “x 11 “

SOLD

The Child's box

This Child’s name is Fred. He sits in front of me every second Saturday and plays video games. I tease him for being loud, but he never says a word. He is the quietest child ever.One day he comes to me with a bloodied grin and hands me a tooth.I was long done collecting teeth for my show, and had a week to put the finishing touches on the show. He could have given it to the tooth fairy, put it under his pillow, shown it to his parents, and then collected his monetary reward.But as quietly as he sat in front of me every two weeks, he now stood in front of me with a tooth, not more than a few minutes out of his mouth.There are moments in life where things just make sense, and do not need deep interpretation. This was one of them. I had received children’s teeth, but they were all given to my by the adult that had long grown up, but who had kept these teeth. This was the only tooth given to me by a child.There was no sentimental attachment, or any emotional investment at this point. Just a kid holding a tooth that he was willing to donate. The piece is the modern tooth fairy tool; it is a wooden box on a stand. This tool of modernity is efficient and to the point. No risk of lost teeth, no concerns about whether the tooth fairy can find it. The tooth is in the box. End of story.

This piece is now available for sale at the gallery Headquarters
1649 rue Amherst
Montreal QC
514-678-2923

The Child’s Box – Jerome Prieur 2008
Mixed Media - Acrylic and Ink on Wood
Donated Tooth – Fred Maltais
Special thanks to Aline Plante.
19 “x 5” x 5”
SOLD

2 More days!

I took these photos this morning before packing them all up to go to the gallery for this saturday vernissage, they are all about your teeth! I will post the stories of each individual pieces during the next few days. Thanks to the ones that trusted me to turn their teeth into art!

Susanne Apgar, Danika Challand, Grant Cunningham, Chloe DuPont, Nikki Hendersen, Kelly Inglis, Ruzica Krajcic, Raphael Lesage, Fred Maltais, Jules Prieur and Danielle-Marie Smith.

Can you guess which one is your piece? Hard to tell i know, but let's see if you've got a good eye.

For those in Montreal, see you saturday night!

The Dentist and the Toothfairy...exposed

Well this is it, almost done the artwork for my upcoming show. Beleive it or not, it is next saturday and i am not entirely done. Working on such deadlines is demanding but the pieces are turning out great! For those of you that will come to the show, be ready to see something very different than my usual work, this exhibit will feature more sculptural pieces and lights. The picture below shows one of the pieces that will be featured in the exhibit, it is the Nikki's Totem (floor lamp), based on a real life story of artist Nikki Hendersen. The details of her story are with the lamp and will be at the gallery for you to read, as well as my website on my next updates. Check back in the next few days as i will reveal some other pieces on this blog.

Headquarters is at
1649, Amherst St
Montreal


Press release



Jerome Prieur and Dorota Skrzypek are collaborating for an exhibit this September at Headquarters Galerie & Boutique in Montréal, entitled: The Dentist and the Toothfairy—Exposed. The exhibit is an extension of the unique partnering that led to the writing and artwork of The Dentist and The Toothfairy, and the various themes that inspired the book: love, obsession, inner turmoil, morality, and…teeth.
One constant we all share is a lifetime of dealing with our teeth. Whether it be cleaning them, getting them fixed, pulled, whitened, watching them fall out, dreaming about them falling out, being taught the importance of keeping them healthy, experiencing the milestones that come with the loss (or addition) of them, or living with the social mores surrounding our teeth.
This personal exhibit will feature new artwork by Dorota and Jerome, and an interview that will be realized in a documentary regarding the ongoing artistic collaborations of The Dentist and The Toothfairy.
The artwork is being created, literally, from pieces of the book, and the oral remains donated for this unique project. Oral remains include baby teeth, adult teeth, unaltered teeth, cosmetically enhanced teeth, fake teeth (dentures), and dental enhancements (retainers, braces).
New artwork will include sculptures, light fixtures, canvas collages and more; the full surprise to be unveiled in September.
This show is not just an artistic venture between the artist and the author, but a community project. We are pleased to share the show with our many collaborators. To all those that donated human remains, we want to thank you for your time, energy, personal stories, and… your teeth. Thank you to Susanne Apgar, Danika Challand, Grant Cunningham, Chloe Dupont, Nikki Hendersen, Kelli Inglis, Ruzica Krajcic, Raphael Lesage, Aline Plante (guest artist), Jules Prieur, Danielle-Marie Smith, and Fred Maltais.
Here’s to our teeth! We look forward to seeing yours at the show.
Cheers,Jerome & Dorota

New pieces

Here are 2 new pieces, Debbie at the dirty beach and Dirk at the dirty beach.

The story? Debbie and Dirk went to the beach one day. Debbie and Dirk went swimming and a shark ate them from the waste down. Debbie and Dirk went sad but Debbie and Dirk would not let go of the beach and wanted to keep spending their days there. Debbie and Dirk seeked advice from mad scientists that asked Debbie and Dirk if they would like prosthesis legs. Debbie and Dirk said no because it would be too tempting to go back in the ocean and did not want to go through this trauma again. Debbie and Dirk decided to do good things…Useful things for their beach. Debbie and Dirk hated how spring break kids and fatty tourist always left the beach with broken bottles of booze and fast food wrapping papers and other waste. This is when they decided to have a mops, brooms, vaccum cleaner instead of legs. Mad scientists did not have the courage to tell them that it is absurd to wash sand with such tools, but they did it for them anyways.

But don’t blame Debbie and Dirk because they are dumb as brooms. Wish them the best.