This book was published in 1996 by the Contemporary Art Gallery on the occasion of the exhibition *Modus Operandi* by Ginette Legaré and Louise Noguchi at the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, July 6 – August 20, 1996, and at the Canadian Embassy Gallery in Tokyo, November 5 – December 30, 1996. The publication contains a foreword by Geraldine Parent, an introduction by Keith Wallace and an essay by Michèle Thériault.

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Modus Operandi

Ginette Legaré, Louise Noguchi

Louise Noguchi

Ginette Legaré

Ginette Legaré and Louise Noguchi are two artists based in Toronto. The pairing of their work in this exhibition arises from parallels in their working process rather than a similarity of materials or iconography. Although the work differs visually, it converges in the play with a psychological space between the familiar and the unknown, and how we as viewers perceive what we are looking at.

Ginette Legaré collects commonplace objects consisting of various materials such as wood, glass, leather, and metal. These objects are discreetly altered and arranged on the wall. The familiarity of the materials, and the evidence of some former use value, is transformed by their placement within a new and ambiguous matrix of meaning. Louise Noguchi melds together two photographic portraits; one of a murderer or murderer's victim culled from the mass media and one of herself mimicking their pose. By cutting each photograph into thin strips that are then woven together, the identity of the individual, and by extension any determination of innocence or guilt, is thrown into question.

Michele Theriault, in her catalogue text for this exhibition, identifies their strategy as one of claiming a space for the "in between," that is, a space that "opens up an imaginative zone for relationships that can't be easily circumscribed." These elusive relationships are central to the work of Legaré and Noguchi and create an often perplexing reading of things we might take for granted.

Ginette Legaré's work has been exhibited in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, and Amsterdam; Louise Noguchi's work has been exhibited in Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Saskatoon, and Calgary. 

*Modus Operandi*, organized in collaboration with Cold City Gallery in Toronto, will travel to the Canadian Embassy Gallery in Tokyo in November 1996. The Contemporary Art Gallery is the only Canadian venue.


Three pieces of sculptures are mounted on the wall. Wooden pieces including a cutting board, monocular lenses, and the identical image of a hand are repeated throughout the composition.

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An installation view of the gallery. Various artworks including black and white large-scale photographs of people’s faces and found objects are mounted on the walls.

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An installation view of the gallery shows four black and white portrait photographs on the right-side wall. On another wall, a group of black sculpture works are mounted. 

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An installation view of the gallery shows artworks mounted on the walls. A group of black sculptures are on the right-side wall, and six black and white portrait photographs are on the left-side wall. 

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Two artworks are mounted on the gallery walls. Both are wooden sculptures, and one on the left has a sentence, “1 4LW4YS W4NT3D TO SP34K 4BOUT TH3 4RCHIT3CTUR3 OF N==D” typed on the space above it.

Ginette Legaré, Louise Noguchi

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