Shary Boyle's practice is multi-disciplinary: she draws, sculpts, paints and creates installations as well as audiovisual performances to explore the range of human psychological and emotional states through fantasy fictions. The off-site programme begins with A Way to Go, a new commission by Vancouver based artist Ron Tran. His practice focuses on displacing the routine of everyday life.
Shary Boyle: Flesh and Blood
Curated by Louise Déry
The exhibition Shary Boyle: Flesh and Blood organized and circulated by the Galerie de l’UQAM, will open at the Contemporary Art Gallery of Vancouver on June 16, 2011. Curated by Louise Déry, the exhibition was first unveiled at the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto) and was then on view at the Galerie de l’UQAM last winter.
Shary Boyle’s practice is multi-disciplinary: she draws, sculpts, paints and creates installations as well as audiovisual performances to explore the range of human psychological and emotional states through fantasy fictions. She does it from a position that is at once feminist, oneiric and poetic. Always charged with troubled emotions and expressive candour, her works refashion the archetypes of ancient myths, children’s literature and figurative convention to renew the potential of their meaning.
Poised between grace and strangeness, her portraits and genre scenes read like allegories of the human condition. Their resolutely symbolic and profoundly original language raise bold perspectives on the present. Shary Boyle reveals a conscience haunted by an ethical and human considerations of our world today. She exposes life, animality, heredity, sexuality and death, activating and transgressing these in an intense investigation of the complex links between individuals and species.
Shary Boyle: Flesh and Blood, adapted for the space of the Contemporary Art Gallery, is the first major solo exhibition of the artist ever shown in Canada. It includes over 12 works realized since 2006, most of them never exhibited before.
The catalogue
A 200-page bilingual publication accompanies the exhibition and brings together a varied corpus of works created since 2002. Texts and images reveal the fantasy world of Shary Boyle. Richly illustrated, the catalogue includes an essay by the curator Louise Déry with additional texts of James Bewley (Andy Warhol Foundation, New York) and Michelle Jacques (Art Gallery of Ontario).
The exhibition Shary Boyle: Flesh and Blood is organized by the Galerie de l’UQAM in partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto) and with the collaboration of the Contemporary Art Gallery of Vancouver.
Supporters : Heritage Canada, Canada Council for the Arts and Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.
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Ron Tran, A Way to Go | Off-site
Our off-site programme begins with A Way to Go, a new commission by Vancouver based artist Ron Tran. His practice focuses on displacing the routine of everyday life. Previous projects include pursuing interactions with strangers, offering to walk them home at night or relocating ordinary objects such as his apartment door, which he removed for six weeks for display in an exhibition.
For A Way to Go, Tran guides his audience on an unexpected route through Vancouver's downtown core, navigating alleyways and shortcuts. The word ‘alley' derives from the original French word ‘allée' which literally translates as ‘a way to go'. For this project, Tran names several alleyways as a means to establish their usage and elevate their status. Unlike traditional methods of street naming, which often reference political figures which often reference political figures or historical events, Tran has used personal experiences, such as encounters with individuals and objects to determine the description of these overlooked places. Following the trail established by the artist, participants are led into an immersive, interactive experience through the use of a GPS enabled mobile device. A series of digital images, audio tracks and video files corresponding to specific locations are revealed reflecting the artist's experiences and offering an understanding of his descriptive classifications while bringing to light hidden narratives. A Way to Go creates opportunities to re-examine downtown Vancouver through a project that is decidedly personal and unique.
This forms the first in a series of projects using interactive technologies which take programming outside of the gallery allowing audiences to experience contemporary art within the wider context of the city. Working with Autobox Media, the Contemporary Art Gallery has designed a program that uses LAYAR reality browser to guide audiences on a journey where they can explore and interact with artwork they encounter along the way. These projects will work on any smartphone. Devices will be available at the gallery for visitors wishing to borrow one.
This program is generously supported by TELUS, 2010 Legacies Now and the Canadian Art Foundation. With special thanks to Hannah Hughes.
Image: Shary Boyle, Dealer, Artist, Curator, 2009, Ink, origami collage on paper, Courtesy of Jessica Bradley Art + Projects, Toronto
Opening, Thursday June 16 at 6 p.m.
Contemporary Art Gallery
555 Nelson Street, Vancouver
Open Wednesday to Sunday 12 to 6 pm / Free entry