Although hundreds of years old, the tendency to associate a career in art with a life spent in poverty struggle is still common enough, and the past decade has seen a new and more developed focus upon the troubled place in which artists and economics meet. Usually this discourse is carried out in economic terms—neoliberalism, precarious employment, and all that—but it is natural for it to happen in the art milieu as well. Such an instance is De l’intérieur vers l’extérieur (From Interior toward Exterior), Montréal artist Justine Skahan’s latest exhibition, at Galerie McClure. Consisting of thirteen drawings and six paintings, Skahan presents her investigations of the artist’s situation the midst of today’s real estate investment bubble. The resulting exhibition, understated but incisive, does not present a particularly rosy outlook.

Skahan’s series of pencil drawings, titled Impermanent Dwelling (2021–2022), depicts modest houses, sourced from websites of real estate companies such as DuProprio and Centris, as seen by an unnamed viewer through the arched entrance of a tent. Most of the actual houses are in semi-rural locations within a couple of hours from Montréal. The artist told me that she selected houses in places where she thought she might be able to afford them, an hour or two from Montréal, but certainly not in the city—sorry, out of reach! But as Skahan browsed the real estate pages, she realized she couldn’t afford those either.

By implication, the artist positions herself as a denizen of the tent; as viewers, we imagine ourselves

…