de Groot, Raphaëlle

Born in 1974, Raphaëlle de Groot holds an MFA from the Université du Québec à Montréal (2006). She lives and works in Montréal and in Italy, and is engaged in an artistic practice consisting primarily of research and experimentation. Her work—interventions, installations, videos, performances, drawings, editions—develops in disparate contexts and situations of encounter where the other is called upon to participate in the creative process. Some projects have several components (residence, studio, exhibition publication, etc.) and are often deployed through work processes that consist in experimenting with a series of rules or restrictions. Whether alone or with others, she is careful not to grant finality to these investigations for she remains attached to the process. Many of her activities are based on gathering data, traces, minor facts that are usually overlooked. Their organization in archival form makes it possible to restore a world hidden from view, put on reserve or left on hold. Winner of the Pierre-Ayot prize 2006, and a 2008 Sobey Award finalist, Raphaëlle de Groot has presented her work in Canada and Europe since 1997. Over the years she has acquired valuable collaboration experiences with, among others, the Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto (Biella, Italy), the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Leeds City Art Gallery (UK), the Galerie de l’UQAM (Montreal), the Z2O Galleria–Sara Zanin (Rome), the Quartier, centre d’art contemporain de Quimper (France) and the Southern Alberta Art Gallery (Lethbridge).