(SUR)MONTAGE was the collective exhibition of Les Îles Mardi, an artist cooperative and shared studio space in Brussels. It brought together some thirty artists. It traced the association’s evolution and asked a question: how can different practices and aesthetics coexist, how do we build a commons? Its structure reflected the cooperative’s governance: the artists were gathered in small groups, each carrying its own “mini-curation”.

With Les Îles Mardi, we designed the exhibition’s visual identity in the do-it-yourself spirit of the studio. A white surface streaked with brush marks, like a wall painted before the hanging, hosts an inked title with eroded letters. Information is added like reminders: fluorescent yellow notes list the groups of artists. The catalogue extends this system with photographs of the set-up and of the exhibition. (SUR)MONTAGE extends the identity of Les Îles Mardi: the fluorescent yellow, the typography and the dissonance between structure and gesture become exhibition material.