Medium coins the message of Mathieu Lefvre 'Make It Big' retrospective

Montreal's artist-runCentre Clark is celebrating one of its members, the late Mathieu Lefvre, in a new exhibition called Make It Big.

Lefvre was killed in a bicycle accident in New York City in 2011 when he was hit by a truck. He was 30.

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The exhibition, which bears the subtitle More Shit on the Wall, shows the young artist'sprolific, irreverent practice. Itfills the whole gallery space, from a Jackson Pollack-inspired desk "painted" with chewing gum on the underside to a painting collage with the words "I don't understand art about art."

Hear Jeanette Kelly discussing Make It Big on CBC Montreal's Daybreak at 6:40 a.m.

Channelling Lefvre's spirit

Visitors can climb into a wood cabin to watch a video ofmedium MimiBonhomme channelling Lefvre's spirit.

CuratorsRoxanneArsenault,NicolasMavrikakisandManonTourignyconsultedBonhommewhen trying to decide how to approach the exhibition.

"We can't really do thisnormally with posthumous showsbut in this case, because Mathieu was always playing with the limit of what was right and what was wrong and playing with the idea of death a lot, we decided this was okay," Arsenault said.

The medium apparently talked with Lefvre andtold the curators'not to overthink the show, butto make it ours,to make it big'.

"And that became the title of our show, Make It Big."

Visitors also get to step into a re-creation of his New York studio, complete with a pair of running shoes left under his desk with one of his favourite punk anthems playing on his CD player.

Aseries of photos show the artist's own arms inked with images of works by Picasso andMatisse, showinghis desire to understand fame in the art world.

Lefvre's legacy

Lefvre's mother Erika Lefvre says the exhibition brings back sad moments but she feels it's part of their legacy to make sure her son'swork is shown.

The exhibition includes a sculpture of a body lying in front of a tombstone and a Last Will and Testament written in 2007 in which Lefvre leaves his work to the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art.

Given his early death, it can seem eery to look at those works now. But Erika Lefvre feels her son had a precocious understanding of the limits of our lives and a desire to push those limits in a humorous way.

"Mathieu was a great entertainer. He made his art entertaining. So even if the theme of death can make you sad, there's always an amusing little smile in the world. Life is not only the dark side."

"He liked to push the limits. He enjoyed life more than the average person. He had a vibrant, sociable, extroverted personality. I think he realized very young that life is a continuum and eventually there would be death," she says.

Respectfullyirreverent

The curators of the exhibition have been careful to both be respectful the exhibition includes his ashes in a funeral urn and a plaster cast of one of his hands but also make the exhibition playful.

"This exhibition from the get-go has been very bittersweet. Mathieuwas a friend toa lot of us and working on this we were thinking we should be very sad," said Arsenault.

"But at the same time Mathieuwas always transgressing these lines of what you could or could not say. So that became a rule for us ascurators:'Is this too much? If so, let's do it.'"

Stories and sketchbook drawings

Lefvre's close friendand former roommate, Harley Smart, is printing a book where friends, family and loved-ones recount stories of the artist's life.

Smart will also print acollection of drawings and notes selected from Lefvre'smany sketchbooks.

The exhibition also marksthe Montreal launch of catalogue of Lefvre's works compiled by his parents that's calledI Don't Understand Art About Art.

Issue 113 of ESPACE art actuel has also dedicated its front cover and a special insert to the memory of Mathieu Lefvre.

Mathieu Lefvre Make It Big is at the Centre Clark in Montreal through June 18, 2016.