One of our good resolutions for 2026 is to be able to talk about art with confidence – and with the grace of those who know what they’re talking about. After a lazy Google search for the 100 artists of the 20th century to know, we decided we’d just go to the museum more this year. It’s the best way to feed our souls.
And it’s the best way to finally know what we’re talking about when we say -derivative, naïve, fiberglass, brushstrokes, art movement etc.-. But, since we also signed up for the gym in January, the culture budget has to follow.
Culture is for everyone. We have 3 free exhibitions to see in Montreal in January 2026…
3 free exhibitions to see in Montreal in January 2026
Libre by Lucas Lajoie at Galerie Foil
“Libre is an artistic research project on the border between art and sport.
For 50 days, Lucas Lajoie cycled from Norway to France. At the heart of this journey, a 200 × 200 cm canvas, attached to his bike, crossed the landscapes with him. Without any traditional pictorial intervention, the surface was transformed along the way, marked by the road, the weather, fatigue and unforeseen events.
Here, effort becomes medium. The body, engaged in the ordeal, is transformed into a creative tool. Movement is no longer a subject, but the very motor of the artistic gesture.
A canvas-archive and a series of 11 works produced in the studio are the result of the traces, stories and experiences accumulated on the ground. – @foil.gallery
Where? Galerie Foil, 6560 rue Waverly (Beaubien or Jean-Talon metro on the orange line / Parc metro on the blue line)
When? January 9-January 28, 2026 – the exhibition opens on January 9 at 6 p.m., and admission is free, but you must RSVP to the gallery’s bio link, here!
every day / 8am-6pm
Clochette, Émeraude, Étampe, Timbre au Livart
The Livart art center, where most exhibitions are free (note for the coming months, the year 2026 has 12), presents a group show starting January 15.
The exhibition brings together works by artists Émilie Allard, Ioana Dragomir, Christy Kunitzky, Laurel Rennie and Kuh Del Rosario around the philosophical concept of the permanence of objects when they are receptacles of information.
“Inspired by philosopher Byung-Chul Han’s Non-Things and Yōko Ogawa’s novel The Memory Police, the exhibition questions how objects and experiences are progressively displaced by information, and the effects of this shift on our identity and relationship to the material world.”– Le Livart
Where? Centre d’art Le Livart, 3980 rue Saint-Denis
When? January 15-March 1, 2026 – exhibition opening January 15, 2026, 6-9pm
Saturday-Sunday / 11am-5pm
Burn From Absence at Place des Arts
Emeline Courcier uses images, erased memories of her displaced Vietnamese family and artificial intelligence to bring her story to life… PHI and Place des Arts have partnered with the artist to present this fresco of memory free of charge until February 2026.
Where? Exhibition hall, Place des Arts, 175 rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest
When? October 15, 2025 – February 15, 2026
Tuesday-Friday / 8am-4pm
Saturday-Sunday / noon-8pm
Happy January!