13/4/2007
Two exhibitions
Oboro, Montreal
Shelley Niro presents recent works including the video works Tree and Recharging Reconnecting Getting Going and a new photographic installation. Sculptors Harry and Rosemary Mountain explore movement and time through a variety of media, from mud to bronze.
Shelley Niro - almost fallen
In this solo exhibition, Shelley Niro presents recent works including
the video works Tree and Recharging Reconnecting Getting Going,
and the premier of a new photographic installation La Pieta.
Tree pays homage to “Keep America Beautiful,” a North American
television campaign in the early 70’s. In it, Iron Eyes Cody appears
as the stereotypical Indian looking around the environment to see
that the landscape is no longer being cared for and that there is little
respect for it. He cries one big tear. Even though Iron Eyed isn’t, in
fact, Native, and the campaign plays on the “stoic representation” of
Native Americans, Niro still feels it is a representation we can look at
as a role model and that caring for Mother Earth should be our biggest
concern at the moment.
Recharging, Reconnecting Getting Going is a two-minute
video piece bringing statements of assertiveness, curiosity,
and nationhood to the small screen. It’s a humorous attempt
to balance life’s trials and tribulations. It is choreographed and
performed by Santee Smith, a Mohawk from Six Nations, and was
filmed and edited by Roger Duck featuring music by Rick Lazar.
In Michaelangelo’s original La Pieta, the mother holds her dead son.
Even for those not familiar with art history, the sculpture evokes a
feeling of sympathy for the woman as she lovingly cradles the man.
It is here that Niro associates the image with the contemporary world
view of war from a woman’s perspective. Michaelangelo’s La Pieta
may be a religious notion, but it is one of universal of grief. In Niro’s
La Pieta, she has juxtaposed the landscape with a young man’s chest.
Playing between the landscape - showing infinite beauty – and the
young man’s chest - showing physical beauty - the two beauties then
become expendable resources. [S.N.]
...................................
Rosemary et Harry Mountain - The Crib in the Playroom
The Interactive Multimedia Playroom is an ongoing research
project designed to deepen our understanding of how
we listen to and express our thoughts about sound in artistic
contexts. The fact that we currently have very poor means
for discussing these issues impacts many areas, including
the collaborative process among artists. To maximize the
project’s potential, we have designed it with multiple options
for exploration—hence the concept of Playroom. Because the
research is still in its infancy and we are just now learning
how to speak about sound, we are referring to this stage as
The Crib. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to associate
diverse sounds and images, and to “sort” clips into various
categories, thereby contributing to the research. [R.&H.M.]
Image: Shelley Niro, almost fallen
Opening 14 april 2007
Oboro
4001, rue Berri - Montréal