Visual Arts Winter Exhibitions 2012

January 28 - April 15, 2012

Jesse Louttit, Untitled, from the series No Roads, 2011. C-print from 4x5 negative. Image courtesy of the artist.

No Roads

Jesse Louttit

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Jesse Louttit’s street views of Moosonee and Moose Factory explore this historic gateway to the north, which is still not accessible by roads.

Stories are told and scenes are described. From an early age, Jesse Louttit has heard stories and descriptions of his father’s childhood home of Moosonee. How Louttit imagined this place was always painted with family stories and romantic thoughts of Northern Ontario.

These images are of Moosonee and Moose Factory, towns which are still not connected to the road system and only accessible by train or plane. Located on the shores of the Moose River and James Bay, they are at the northernmost point of the Ontario Northlander train route. Originally settled as fur trading posts, they grew in prominence with the arrival of the train railway in 1932, as  gateways to surrounding communities of many which were Cree settlements.

These images are taken from the perspective of Louttit as observer: walking the roads of these small towns, trying to make sense of what he’s seeing and how he remembers it described to him. Each image is constructed from two negatives taken from a view of the road looking out into the distance. These constructed panoramic views emphasize, with intense detail, all that is in front of him: the landscape, the houses, the buildings, the swagging electrical lines and the roads. With these images, Louttit is collecting everything that he sees. Documenting a place as it is now and giving structure and understanding to a place that was only imagined before. What a father remembers and a son sees may be two very different things.

–Patrick Macaulay

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