calendario eventi  :: 

X

10/7/2014

Kelly Richardson

Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver

The Contemporary Art Gallery presents a survey exhibition of work by Canadian artist Kelly Richardson, best known for her immersive projection works which create environments prompting a questioning of our relationship to the natural world.

The universe Richardson constructs can seem somewhat bleak, devoid of all but the strangest forms of life, and notionally touching upon issues within ecological discussion and environmental debate. Yet if we consider nature not as omniscient, but mediated, appropriated, subjugated and vulnerable, then by examining any simple concept of the “natural”, Richardson actually makes the interrogation even more urgent. Immense and unsettling projections show animated scenes of primordial swamps or forests, desolate moonscapes or eerie holographic trees flickering in and out of view. And yet the videos are open-ended, drawing us in to develop our own narratives for these unsettling scenes, which could be humanity’s last attempt at caring for a ruined planet. Even though she leaves the questions unanswered, it’s clear that she is suggesting we should project farther into the future than we’re comfortable doing, a quality enhanced in understanding how these works are made. A particular quality in Richardson’s videos– in addition to technical facility and her embrace of beauty as a way to prime us about the disturbing undercurrents snaking through her otherwise seductive work – is the way she seems to look back from the future.

The exhibition comprises a selection of recent major projections and photographs. In the large-scale, multi-screen installation of Leviathan (2011) we are confronted with an all-encompassing projection. Through the image and its reflections on walls and floors, it occupies or rather infiltrates the space, implicating us as audience as we simultaneously behold and are contained within the image. It asserts itself, with its Biblical title, as suggestive of some kind of apocalyptic flood, the swirling water appearing to almost envelop and swallow up the viewer. The works too are in many other ways absorbing; they elicit a terrible beauty through the seduction of surface. And yet this slow, churning motion becomes almost hypnotic, a narcotic mesmerizing image, an illusion perhaps not at odds with the evocation of a notional poisonous or toxic liquid; a substance that is at once of our world but at the same time transforming, of becoming somewhere else.

Richardson’s work touches also on the notion of the sublime, that mixture of awe, hope and fear that reveals something uncomfortable about the depth and darkness of human desire. While technically pristine, in part through the process of computer manipulation and invention of form, her work has precedents in sources as seemingly disparate as the romantic landscape paintings of the late 18th century or the B-horror and science-fiction films of the 1970s and 80s. She has stated: “I’m interested in that contradiction at this critical time in human history when current predictions for our future are not just unsettling, but terrifying.”

The notion of the artificial is brought to bear in contemplation of what might be considered natural, in part reinforced by the visual polish of the moving images, which reach the point where most viewers are unable to distinguish between what is real and what is computer-generated. In Orion Tide, (2013) we see rocks and foliage littering the ground, convincing us of some form of scrub land. Then an eerie, distant sound warns us of that which follows, the slow eruption of a lit pod from the surface. Trails of flame and smoke lead the eye up through the dark sky and then out of sight, followed by another and another and another. Are they escape pods —final humans abandoning all hope— or are they a death rattle of a dying planet? Richardson deftly avoids simplistic environmental and sci-fi cliché with a painterly sense of narrative mystery.

The exhibition is developed in collaboration with the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, UK; Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, UK; Towner, Eastbourne, UK and Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. An extensive monograph accompanies the exhibition.

About the Contemporary Art Gallery
Established in 1971 the Contemporary Art Gallery is the longest standing free public art gallery in Vancouver dedicated exclusively to presenting contemporary art. By the early 1990s the programme expanded providing some of the first institutional exhibitions for many important Vancouver artists, including Brian Jungen, Germaine Koh and Steven Shearer. The Contemporary Art Gallery is a publicly funded institution, generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the City of Vancouver and the Province of BC through the BC Arts Council and the BC Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch. We are very grateful for this support and that we receive from the Vancouver Foundation and our members, donors and volunteers.

Image: Kelly Richardson, Orion Tide, 2013, HD video installation with audio. Courtesy the artist and Birch Contemporary, Toronto

For press information and to request access to high resolution images please email Communications Coordinator Jill Henderson at j.henderson@contemporaryartgallery.ca

Public Events:

FREE Multi-Language Guided Visits – Saturday July 12, Saturday July 19, Saturday July 26 (Spanish), Sunday August 10 (French), Sunday August 17, Saturday August 23, Saturday August 30 and Sunday August 31 (Mandarin). All tours start at 3pm at the Contemporary Art Gallery. Join Nigel Prince, Executive Director, Jill Henderson, Communications Coordinator, Jenifer Papararo, Curator, Jaclyn Bruneau, Visitor Services Assistant and Shaun Dacey, Curator of Learning and Public Programs and artists and volunteers Kay Slater, Olivia Qiu and Avelina Crespo for a guided visit. Slater, Qiu and Crespo will deliver their tours in French, Mandarin and Spanish respectively. Open to the public, guided visits provide a free opportunity to engage with the exhibition and develop new skills for interpreting contemporary art.

CAG Family Days - Last Saturday of every month:
June 28, July 26 and August 30, 12-3pm
On the last Saturday of every month, the CAG invites all ages to drop-in for short exhibition tours and free art marking activities that respond to current exhibitions. In partnership with ArtStarts on Saturdays. www.artstarts.com/weekend. ADMISSION is FREE.

Contemporary Art Gallery
555 Nelson Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6B 6R5
Tuesday to Sunday 12 - 6pm
Free Admission

stampa

permanent link