Montreal-born artist Allison Katz opened her first solo exhibition in a Quebec Museum at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) on October 9, 2026. The exhibition, filled with work exploring painting as a gateway into the human psyche and imagination, runs from October 9th to March 14, 2027.
The exhibition as a whole speaks to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health and Well-Being, as Katz explores painting as a tool for psychological well-being and in the exploration of her identity.
Gradiva is Jeu d'esprit's central figure, a fictional character originally created by 19th century German author Wilhelm Jensen. Jensen's Gradiva is based on a Roman bas-relief, a sculptural technique where figures are only raised a bit above their background surface, as well as having influence on psychoanalytic literature and Surrealism. Gradiva passes through the works, resurfacing throughout in new forms, showing how for Katz', paintings can blur reality with desires, dreams, or alternate possibilities.
The exhibition is like a game, as each painting shifts, leading viewers to attempt to understand how meaning is transferred and translated between new settings and passageways, blurring lines between real and unreal.