For Allison Katz’s first institutional solo exhibition in Quebec, Jeu d’espirit, she brings together major recent works with entirely new paintings in an exhibition design that she conceived specifically for the MMFA.

Drawing on sources from across psychoanalytic theory, popular culture and art history, Katz has developed a unique visual vocabulary that explores questions of identity and expression, selfhood and the human psyche.

The arrangement of paintings in space is part of her artistic practice. Installed in a configuration the artist designed to allow for multiple connections between interrelated thematic groupings, Jeu d’esprit unfolds like a game. As they play, visitors discover clues to Katz’s own biography and are prompted to explore much broader questions about the memories, coincidences and influences that shape who we are.