Ceal Floyer
dal 15/2/2011 al 15/5/2011
Segnalato da
15/2/2011
Ceal Floyer
DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montreal
Her work, which resonates in a gently philosophical manner long after the first encounter, often draws attention to neglected everyday objects and situations. Floyer lays open the structural character of things, as well as reflecting on the linguistic basis of signification. She often takes objects and situations to an extreme logical conclusion. These mental deliberations can sometimes achieve a haunting poetry.
curator John Zeppetelli
Ceal Floyer’s art displays a clarity of thought within elegantly concise presentations. Engaged and active viewing is typically required—and then rewarded—in the artist’s minimalist-conceptualist amalgams. Her work, which resonates in a gently philosophical manner long after the first encounter, often draws attention to neglected everyday objects and situations. Floyer thinks of her art as very self-reflexive: not necessarily about anything outside of the work itself, but focused instead on the context and conditions of its production and display.
What at first may appear very reduced, expands with contemplation. Floyer has the uncanny ability to coax and activate entirely logical, yet overlooked, associations from dull and inert objects. Drawing on the tradition of the ready-made and conceptual art, an interesting disproportion is created between the almost-not-there form the works take and the many ideas and perceptual shake-ups they generate.
Floyer lays open the structural character of things, as well as reflecting on the linguistic basis of signification. She often takes objects and situations to an extreme logical conclusion. These mental deliberations can sometimes achieve a haunting poetry. Titles, therefore, always play a key role, often refering to both the subject and the process of a piece. For instance, Light Switch (1992-99)—a key and by now classic work—consists of the image of a light switch projected in scale from a 35mm slide on the wall, just where you would normally expect to find it. Similarly, Double Act (2006) is an inward, thwarted spectacle where nothing ever happens, but where much is going on. Consisting of a spotlight directed at a bare wall and floor, it projects but also illuminates a stage and a red curtain, the light source doubling as the image source.
The DHC/ART exhibition also provides an opportunity to see a reconfiguration of Things, first shown at KW Institute for Contemporary Arts, Berlin in 2009. Two dozen or so plinths, devoid of objects, stand in an empty room each emitting the word "thing” at different intervals in real time—the only audible section from otherwise silenced pop songs. Apart from the plinths themselves, however, no ‘things’ are present in the room.
The deceptive simplicity of Floyer’s work is informed by her particular sense of humour and awareness of the absurd. Through subtle interventions the artist uses double-takes and shifting points of view to encourage viewers to renegotiate their perception of the world. In the words of Jeremy Millar, her work "looks simple; it often seems as if there is nothing to see. Yet these works can lead us in important directions, allowing us to consider the nature of representation, or the difference between art and non-art." Floyer asks us to accept this challenge.
Project: PROJECT
The general public are invited to participate in PROJECT during an open house workshop which will take place on Saturday, March 26th at 2 PM. Reservations are required as space is limited.
Presented by DHC/ART Education as part of the Ceal Floyer exhbition presented at DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary art from February 16 – May 16, 2011.
Description: The concept of ‘absence/presence’ is an important aspect of Ceal Floyer’s artistic process and will be explored in the project PROJECT. Participants will receive an introduction to the exhibition by DHC/ART educators that will contextualize the artists’ works and deepen an understanding of this key concept.
1. In consideration of the concept of ‘absence/presence’, participants will illustrate an abstract idea’ of interest (ugliness, fragility, calm, etc.) by way of an object.
2. In order to illustrate this abstract idea, the participant is invited to modify a found object (key, erasor, photo, etc.) using scissors, colour or with the addition or extraction of formal or textual elements. As a result, the original meaning or function of the object may change.
3. The participant is then invited to give a title to the work, considering the process of its making, that can bring about double meanings, often present in conceptual art. The object-cum-artwork will be displayed in a small plastic bag with its title.
Materials: Participants are welcome to use their own ‘found’ objects, otherwise, a collection of objects will be available on site. The plastic bags for display and the material for the treatment of objects will also be supplied.
Presentation of projects: All works will be presented on the DHC/ART website as well as in the Education Space. At the end of the Ceal Floyer exhibition, participants will be able to pick up their works during ‘Happening’, the project’s closing event.
‘Happening’ 11/05/11: During the closing of PROJECT, DHC/ART invites all participants as well as the general public to take part in a large ‘Happening’ which will consist of a collective gesture posed in the spirit of the Fluxus movement. More details will follow!
PROJECT is offered to all groups who have received a guided tour of the exhibition.
Reservations are required: education@dhc-art.org
For media inquiries please contact:
Myriam Achard, Director of Communications and Marketing (514) 779-8868 myriam@dhc-art.org
Opening February 16th, 2011
DHC/ART Foundation for Contemporary Art
451 St-Jean Street Montreal, Quebec H2Y 2R5
Opening hours
Wed. Thurs. Fri. 12:00 - 19:00
Sat. Sun. 11:00 - 18:00
Admission Free