Atomic Rooster on Bank Street is one of the many local businesses that display the artwork of Basement Artists. Above, Marcus Lamoureux, the co-operative’s director, stands with artwork by Cory Le-Blanc, currently on display at Atomic Rooster.
Chances are if you’ve spent any time in the bars and restaurants of Ottawa, you’ve seen artwork by the Basement Artists, probably without realizing it.
Whether enjoying Sunday brunch at The Buzz Restaurant on Bank Street or a pint of Beau’s at Atomic Rooster, it’s impossible to ignore the art that’s been quietly taking over the vacant walls of Centretown businesses.
Marcus Lamoureux is the heart, soul and legs of the Basement Artists, an artist-run collective.
The idea is simple. Lamoureux sets up a show and in exchange for wall space, the artists and musicians buy tickets from him and sell them to get an audience. If they don’t sell all their tickets, they’ve lost money out of their own pocket and their audience.
“Some artists are shy,” Lamoureux says, adding that this gets them used to self-promotion, which is important to independent artists.
On top of directing the collective, Lamoureux works at DeSerres art supply store, he’s the doorman at Mercury Lounge, and he’s an artist in his own right.
His latest show at Atomic Rooster, The Cyborg Stripper Shoe Exhibit, featured a dancer’s well-worn platform stilettos attached to a canvas, supplemented with metallic attachments and doused with paint.
In the past three-and-a-half years, Basement Artists have had about 43 shows in a variety of venues, from Centretown’s Babylon Nightclub and Atomic Rooster, to the Byward Market’s Oh So Good Dessert and Coffee House and The Cajun Attic.
“We’re a stepping stone for new artists,” says Lamoureux. “Eighty per cent of our artists are brand new.”
One of Lamoureux’s young protégés is Jen Baranick, a Carleton University student, visual artist and lead singer of local band, Bad Doctor.
“Marcus can always hook you up, no matter what your interest is,” Baranick says.
Liam Epps is also a visual artist and guitarist of the local band, Ace Kinkaid. He says the community aspect of the collective helps him stay focused and motivated.
“There are a lot of pieces that I’ve done that I never would have done if I didn’t have to have something new for each show,” says Epps.
The collective welcomes anyone willing to put themselves out there. Lamoureux says he accepts art from 17-year-old graffiti artists to an 81-year-old man in Miami who does watercolour paintings.
Although there are no hard and fast rules for the Basement Artists, Lamoureux does have guidelines: “no politics, no religion, no offensive artwork, no excessive nudity.”
Given the nature of the venues of the shows, “people just don’t need to be offended when they’re eating,” Lamoureux says.
Atomic Rooster has hosted many of the Basement Artists’ work. Alison Kakish is the artistic director for Atomic Rooster and chooses what art is hung on their walls. She says she considers everyone who approaches her to hang their work, as long as they are professional.
“Marcus has trained [the new artists] well,” says Kakish. “They know how to be professional.”
Lamoureux says, “I don’t have to like your art to put you in.” He says the Basement Artists’ collective is there to get Ottawa’s new artists off the ground and running. “The best thing I can do for my artists is to put them in a gallery,” says Lamoureux.
Atomic Rooster is currently showing Basement Artist, Cory LeBlanc artwork.