Montreal Vernissages, Holiday Edition –  Our final Top 3 before the winter pause

Mid-December in Montreal does not soften, it sharpens. As the city slips into its most luminous stretch of the year, the art world responds with intensity, warmth, and generosity. This moment before Christmas and New Year’s is not about slowing down, it is about gathering, exchanging, and marking time together through art.

This edition of Montreal vernissages is our final Top 3 before the holiday pause. We will be back on January 5, 2025, but before galleries dim their lights and studios close their doors for a few weeks, the city offers one last concentrated burst of exhibitions, performances, and encounters that feel distinctly seasonal yet deeply rooted in Montreal’s creative DNA.

1. Vernissage Guilbo, Art en six cordes

📍 Restaurant Jérôme Ferrer, L’Europea, 1065 rue de la Montagne, Montreal
📅 Tuesday, December 16, 2025, from 6 pm to 8 pm

This vernissage unfolds in an unexpected yet fitting setting, the refined dining room of Restaurant Jérôme Ferrer, L’Europea. Here, art, performance, and gastronomy intersect in a gesture that feels both intimate and celebratory.

Guilbo, a Quebec artist trained at the École nationale de l’humour, brings a practice shaped by instinct, audience interaction, and performative presence. His trajectory took a decisive turn after winning the Audience Choice Award at the Gemlucart visual arts competition in Monaco, leading to participation in the Brasil Monaco Project at the Opéra Garnier. There, his work drew the attention of Prince Albert of Monaco and President Emmanuel Macron, with the Prince later acquiring several pieces.

Described as luminous, raw, visceral, and instinctive, Guilbo’s work resists distance. He privileges direct exchange, often activating his exhibitions through live performance. Within the elegant atmosphere of L’Europea, this vernissage becomes a pause in the seasonal rush, a moment to experience art as conversation, presence, and shared attention. Among Montreal vernissages this week, it stands out for its immediacy and sense of encounter.

2. Double Vernissage and Holiday Market, Galerie Cache

📍 2010 rue Cartier and Belgo Building, Suite 418, Montreal
📅 Thursday, December 18, 2025, from 5 pm to 8 pm

Few Montreal vernissages embody the collective spirit of December quite like this double event by Galerie Cache. Taking place simultaneously at its Cartier Street location and at the Belgo, the evening transforms into a festive holiday market centered on small-format works and shared discovery.

Beyond its convivial atmosphere, the event supports a special international project led by gallerist Éric Carlos Bertrand in Mérida and Mexico City, aimed at extending the reach of Quebec and Canadian artists abroad. The Cartier space will feature works by Isabelle Beaupré, Francis Fontaine, David Bellemare, Éric Carlos Bertrand, Catherine Bond, David Gagnon, Joannie Lemire, and Frank Mulvey. At the Belgo, a broader collective will be presented, including Georges Audet, Mathieu Bouchard, Geneviève Dagenais, Mathieu Larone, Oliver Longpré, Étienne Zack, and others.

This double vernissage offers a rare balance between celebration and purpose, positioning art as both gift and gesture, a defining trait of Montreal vernissages during the holiday season.

3. Year-End Celebration and Finissage at Art Mûr

📍 Art Mûr, 5826 rue St-Hubert, Montreal
📅 Friday, December 19, 2025, from 5 pm to 7 pm

Rounding out the week is a layered finissage at Art Mûr that doubles as a year-end gathering. The evening brings together Notes cosmiques by Christine Nobel, Landscape by Jazz Keillor, and La Métacrise alongside the Pistoletto video works by Oli Sorenson.

The event will include a live performance by Oli Sorenson and DJ All Is Well, also known as Fred Everything, as well as the launch of a limited-edition vinyl restricted to 50 copies. Sorenson’s practice offers a critical lens on contemporary capitalism and technological obsolescence, transforming fractured screens into poetic remnants. Jazz Keillor explores the tension between luxury and ecological anxiety, while Christine Nobel’s work merges craft, electronics, rhythm, and colour into luminous, spatial compositions.

As the year closes, these Montreal vernissages act as punctuation marks rather than conclusions. They remind us that creation does not pause for the holidays, it simply shifts rhythm. This final Top 5 invites you to step into that rhythm before we return in January.

Want more?

For radio segments and the full lineup of visual art events and related disciplines featured in the In Situ list (including 9 free vernissages this Thursday alone, 5 of which are at the Belgo), visit:

https://www.facebook.com/Magazine-radio-In-situ-183631911655122
https://www.radiocentre-ville.com
https://magazineinsitu.art

In Situ Radio Magazine is one of the rare programs fully devoted to visual arts in all forms, aired since 2010 on Radio Centre Ville 102,3 every Saturday from 12h to 13h, featuring a passionate team committed to bringing the arts closer to the community.

Want to win BIG? Click here to play our holiday giveaway.