Art and Emotions

This new temporary gallery, designed to encourage private encounters with Jean Paul Riopelle, will use emotion as a guiding principle. Art and Emotions will provide a highly intimate and sensitive experience, reflecting the artist’s relationship with those closest to him.  

The visit will begin with video testimonials from Michael Audain (the Espace Riopelle’s main patron) and others who crossed paths with the artist at various stages of his life and career. In these, Riopelle’s family, friends, and other acquaintances tell his story, sharing memories and anecdotes and offering visitors different, very personal perspectives on both the artist and the man. 

When emotion serves art

The exhibition will also feature a pioneering research project examining the emotions experienced at the Musée, conducted in partnership with the Co-DOT laboratory at Université Laval’s School of Psychology. The aim of this initiative is to gain a better understanding of the emotional responses evoked by artworks and design new artificial intelligence-based tools to personalize exhibition pathways.

An experimental space

And so, the gallery will be transformed into an experimental space based on a dozen of Riopelle’s works. This amusing activity will encourage visitors to actively contribute to research in real time. Participants will be invited to express their feelings about the works using interactive devices scattered throughout the exhibition.

This survey will measure people’s responses to the work of an artist who allowed intuition and emotion to guide his creative process. The Art and Emotions research project’s holistic approach, which actively engages the public, will bring innovation to the field of museum experiences.

The Art and Emotions research project and its deployment in the Initiatives room were made possible thanks to the support of the Secrétariat à la Capitale-Nationale, as part of the Museum Innovation Incubator.