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Vie des Arts
English reports
Jean-Paul Riopelle
Volume 46, Number 187, Summer 2002
URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/52892ac
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Publisher(s)
La Société La Vie des Arts
ISSN
0042-5435 (print)
1923-3183 (digital)
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Cite this review
(2002). Review of [English reports]. Vie des Arts, 46(187), 91–95.
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SACKVILLE, NB "SfN f"'"",'|
plates is a physically demanding
practice, but with Armata the
process has resulted in some un-
expectedly delicate images that
o
SALON HANGING
ïi
* dance the fine line between ab-
March 15-September 29, 2002
straction and representation. "I
Owens Art Gallery have always thought of the creative i_
Mount Allison University process as being like a chain of in-
61 York St., Sackville, terconnected impacts, emotions,
NBE4L1E1
n
decisions, incisions," Armata ex- J)
Tel.: 506 536-2574 D D •" i* tMK\ plains. "I try to avoid narration, to
Every two years, the Owens Art
Gallery hangs part of its collection in D I Q D D DDDC shut it down as much as possible."
The smallest prints scattered
'
much the same manner that it was
around the gallery are absolutely
hung at the end of the 19* century.
delightful nuggets of ideas, some OJ
The Owens first opened its doors on
of which she later translates into
the Mount Allison campus in 1895
larger works. Organic and surreal,
after the collection was transferred
Salon Hanging these prints are like contemporary
there lock, stock, and barrel from Wall 1 visual haikus, marked by the artist's
Saint John, New Brunswick. Much of
is another story.) Presented in what irreverent sense of humour and her
this original collection of some 300 it has a collection of well over 3000
is now considered the normal way to mastery of the medium.
hundred works was gathered in Eu- works and a full programme of ro-
rope by the artist John Hammond tating exhibitions that covers every show works in a gallery "lined up Stretch, a magnificent oil stick
earlier in the century. He came with aspect of art from the historic to the singlefileon a white wall", we would on vellum drawing rips through the
the paintings to Sackville taking on contemporary. You will no longer look at them differendy than in a sa- surface space like afrenzied,frenetic
the role of painting and drawing in- find, as at the end of the 19* century, lon hanging style, where a single pic- gash. Like a giant stain metamor-
structor at the campus. The collec- women art students carefully copy- ture is just a part of the whole. Some- phosing into a human form, it
tion became a major pedagogical ing a Landseer in the gallery. Now you thing can be said for the idea that the stretches upward and downward,
tool for Hammond, whose students are more likely to find a video in- whole is more than the sum of ils headless yet imbued with a frighten-
learned their craft by copying paint- stallation or a one person exhibition parts. This is certainly the case with ingly living energy.
ings and by drawing from plaster of a Toronto or Montreal artist. Even this outstanding exhibition. It is well This primordial mass, deter-
copies of antique sculpture. Put to- so, the salon hanging is still one of worth seeing, particularly because it mined to be born, to walk, is like the
gether for this purpose, the collec- the galleryi's most popular exhibi- provides a window into how art was very core of the artist. It pushes out-
tion also reflected the conservative tions and brings new viewers to the viewed a hundred years ago. With a ward with an unbridled, creative en-
tastes of Hammond and his patron gallery each time it is hung. Perhaps better understanding of history we ergy, looking for new ways to express
John Owens. because it is so sentimental and nar- can hopefully avoid repeating its itself. One gets the feeling, that at
rative, the exhibition still strikes a mistakes. Let us not forget the old times, the very demands of the ar-
The present Owens Art Gallery chord with the average viewer for Latin saying: ars longa, vita brevis duous process of printmaking are
had photographs of the original whom contemporary art is so diffi- (art is long, but life is short). simply too slow for this energy to
hanging of the collection and used cult to fathom. Virgil Hammock
them as the basis for this exhibition.
The gallery is blessed with what is The gallery provides a guide to Ludmila Armata
the exhibition which will help iden- Urne, 2001
called the high wall gallery (a two Etch and drypoint
story space), a spectacular venue for tify some of the individual pictures MONTREAL
the exhibition. The gallery walls have unique to this collection. These in-
been painted a deep red which was clude the Pre-Raphaelite artists John
Everett Millais (Playing Marbles) LUDMILA ARMATA:
the fashion in the 19* century. While
an effort has been made to put some and Edward Burne-Jones (Tree of GRAPHIC LIFE IN BLACK
paintings in the same locations as in Golden Apples), and all sorts of Bar- AND WHITE
1895, other 19* century pictures in bizon School works by the likes of March, 2002
this exhibition came to the collection Louis Welden Hawkins and Wyatt
Eaton. For something completely dif- Galerie McClure
at a later date. The effect of the sa- Visual Arts Centre
lon hanging is in no way hindered by ferent, there is a rather strange copy
350 Victoria Ave.
these additions, but instead is of the Mona Lisa by one C. Velten
Westmount
strengthened, as many later works that has caused more than one
viewer over the years to say to the Etching is a difficult and unfor-
are of a higher quality than the orig- giving medium, but it also has its
inal collection. However, it is not the gallery staff: "I thought that picture
was in Paris!" whimsy. Ludmila Armata plays it like
individual quality of the works that is a fine instrument with the deftness
important, but, rather, the overall ef- This exhibition is a fine example
and audacity of a virtuoso performer.
fect of seeing all of these works pre- of how styles and fashions change
The work she produces makes her
sented in a way modern viewers are over the years. The art in the exhibi-
one of the most interesting and ac-
not used to. In 1895, pictures were tion has not changed, but the way we
complished printmakers in Quebec,
generally hung from floor to ceiling look at it has. When many of these
and she has the awards to prove it.
and in pretty much of a jumble, but pictures were bought by John Ham-
She was this yearis recipient of the
there is nothing haphazard in the mond they were contemporary,
current exhibition. The collection though even by the standards of the Grand Prize in Loto Quebec's 2002
was hung with great care and is day, conservative. Now, with the pas- Printmaking Competition and a prize
probably much nicer than viewers sage of time, they have become his- winner at last yearis Biennale de l'E-
would have found it displayed at the toric art. (Hammond could have stampe et du Papier du Quebec in
end of the 19th century. bought Impressionist art, but did not. Aima, 1996. Armata likewise won
He likely paid more money for the grand prize at the Biennial of Graphic
While the Owens Art Gallery was, conservative art he bought than if he Art in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1996.
until 1965, also the art school, today had been more adventurous, but that Shifting and engraving heavy metal
VIE DES ARTS N°l87 91
take shape, and so Armata reaches black and white photos of a white
for the immediate, the pure gesture, material in flux on an air vent grill.
literally tearing, ripping into the pa- The effect is Haiku-like, almost
per with an audacity that stems from Japanese in character, sublime and
a well of emotions that her urns can simple in effect. The same goes for
no longer contain. the selenium photo series titled
Dorota Kozinska Croix de chemin (1998) or Pont
Marie, Paris (2001) where haphaz-
ard asphalt and paint marks on
cement can look like stitchings or
ERIC D A U D E L I N : concrete abstracts. Photographed
BLANC, NOIR close-up, these magical abstract in-
ET LASSITUDE cantations are more interesting
Until May 18, 2002 than many intentional "painterly"
abstracts. The magic is in the way
Galerie Yergeau,
2060 )oly
Daudelin composes each photo,
frames the parameters and defines
Tel.: 843-0955 the visual aesthetic (always reality-
Fax: 849-2421
based) in each piece.
celny@videotron.ca
Eric Daudelin is an artist thinker. The Ecrits (2001) series of etch-
His miniature works reflect a clear ings are simple mimetic linear
understanding of how to communi- arrangements in columns. Not
cate visual thoughts, notes, ideas... words, just very poetic, all traces of
His artwork can be more interesting time. The only painting, Deuxième
than many so-called "renowned" Blanc (2000) mixes od and earth,
artists because he seizes on reality and mimics the icy form in an adja-
for his visual clues and executes his cent photo piece tided -30C. The
work with a modesty and economy summer counterpart, +30C, is sim-
that is rare. The art, he seems to say, ply a faint green cube of grass sur-
is out there, and just needs an aes- rounded by dry earth. Eric Daudelin
thetic framework to describe it. is an artist/photographer whose art
Daudelin creates those aesthetic pa- has a modesty to it, a sensitivity and
rameters, as, for instance with a se- taste for a life that is lived.
ries of miniature time sequence John K. Grande Betty Goodwin
Vest three, 1970
OTTAWA 59.2 x 45 cm
THE PRINTS OF naturally favoured the use of com-
BETTY GOODWIN mercial print techniques to dissemi-
nate art. What followed were a series
May 31-September 2, 2002
of Goodwin artworks that used every-
National Gallery of Canada thing from hats, parcels, tins, shirts,
380 Sussex Dr. gloves, and vests. These seemingly
Ottawa, Ont. KiN 9N4 everyday objects were part of a lan-
Tel.: 613-990-1985 guage anyone could understand, but
http://national. gallery.ca they likewise carried a history with
Since the Montreal Museum of them and markings, traces of life.
Fine Arts landmark Betty Goodwin The 100 prints and related works
show in 1988 which featured her gathered for the National Gallery of
Swimmer and Carbon series from Canada's current exhibition date pri-
the 1980s, Canadians have come to marily from 1968 to 1975, a period
appreciate her work. Goodwin's sub- when Betty Goodwin was establish-
sequent exhibition at Galerie René ing the language of expression she
Blouin in 1989, seems to a degree to has become known for. The NGC has
have been influenced by Goodwin's the largest collection anywhere of
early printmaking experience. It in- artworks by Betty Goodwin. It in-
cluded her The Steel Notes series of cludes 4 sculptures, 1 painting, 32
sculptural assemblages. These drawings and 212 prints. A catalogue
pieces included everything from written by Rosemarie Tovell, Curator
nails, fine copper wire joiners, metal of Canadian Prints and drawings at
filings and delicate locks of hair the National Gallery of Canada, ac-
along with steel plates. When Betty companies this exhibition. The
Goodwin began producing print- Prints of Betty Goodwin opens a
making in the 1960s, Pop art was in window for the public into under-
fullflower.Pop was a movement that standing the early artistic endeavors
of one of Canada's most appreciated
and recognized artists.
John K. Grande
Éric Daudelin
l/Marylin (detail), 2001
Digital printing
76 cm x 56 cm
92 VIE DES ARTS N°l87
stand. Another photo tided Factory
displays another section of a man- TORONTO
nequin assembly plant (Is this the leg
and ass department?). There is STEPHEN
something of Cindy Sherman, Louise
SCHOFIELD:
Lawler, or Hans Bellmer here, but
Cohen's in situ compositions were SWELL
never conceived as art. They were May 8-Sept. i5 ,h
just there and are so au naturel. Toronto Sculpture Garden
Over 65 of Cohen's black and 115 King St. East
white gelatine silver print and colour Tel.: 416-526-9563
dye coupler photographs are on view
SWELL, Stephen Schofield's latest
for this show. These photos docu-
sculpture has a poetic cadence and
ment a reality, but between the im-
sexual sense seen in earlier works
ages, and under the surface of all of
presented at the Southern Alberta Art
Lynne Cohen's photography, there is
Gallery, Toronto's Power Plant and
tins sense that reality itself is a kind
Montreal's CIAC. The Toronto piece
of fiction or hyper-designed dream.
developed naturally out of a drawing
The dichotomy between virtually de-
of wind-whipped clothes on a line
fined, designed space and reality as
Schofield made. His response to this
a form of truth is a theme Cohen per-
initial inspiration, now on view at the
sistendy pushes. The natural style ev-
Toronto Sculpture Garden, is an
ident in her earlier photos seems to
amorphous and playful sculpture.
have changed. The more recent
An uneven and somewhat awkward
works are obsessive, in their treat-
looking structure of metal piping be-
Lynne Cohen
ment of controlled, organized space,
comes the frame onto which a series
Model Living Room, 1976 order reality in her photo composi- and monitored reality. This is part of
Gelatin silver print of appendages hang. These beautiful
111 cm x 129 cm tions. Her aesthetic is unmediated what makes Lynne Cohen's remark-
colourful biomorphs, made of a
and 1980s. able photographic output so strong,
polymerized cement and fibreglass
her persistent adherence to one ap-
Some of these photos are tinged mixture andfilledwith polyurethane,
proach to photo documentation.
with a sardonic sense of humour and are pure post-Pop in spirit. They look
OTTAWA irony, something that dates their aes-
These non-spaces that Cohen cap-
seemingly unclassifiable. There is
tures actually exist, and are a largely
thetic, but make them also more fun. still some of that inflated hybridized
unseen part of contemporary reality.
LYNNE C O H E N : A recent book No Manis Land: The feel here, as seen in Schofield's pre-
Neutral, generic, these photos make
NO MAN'S LAND Photographs of Lynne Cohen co- vious cloth and rubber glove pieces.
a statement about contemporary life
published by The National Gallery of The forms spread out from their (in-
Feb. l-May i2 , h , 2002 Canada and Thames & Hudson in-
in so-called civilized societies. They
visible) centres. Some of the ap-
National Gallery of Canada evidence places that are rigid, in-
cludes an even greater selection of pendages have what look like feet or
380 Sussex Dr. flexible and remarkably inhuman,
images, similar to those in the arms protruding like tentacles out of
Ottawa, Ont. KiN 9N4 where 1st world activities like med-
show. In the book, we see Cohen's them. The tactile and sensual (emis-
ical laboratory research, military
http://national. gallery.ca photo Factory (1994), a series of sion or emotion) and feeling of phys-
training and other kinds of formal-
Lynne Cohen has, for thirty years, identical assembly line heads and icalfragilityare a universal in all of
ized labour take place. Lynne Cohen's
produced an incredible collection of torsos for future window display Stephen Schofield's art.
photos witness all this with a sense
photographs. Devoid of people, mannequins in the process of being
of candor and sublime unreality. In spirit, Schofield's biomorphs
these empty spaces, borrow from in- "horn". Military InstaUation (1998)
share something in common with
dustrial photography, yet they look with its seven doll-like figurines on John K. Grande
Juan Miro's plastic sculptural forms
dead, devoid of life, and anes- synthetic carpeting fluorescent light-
Stephen Schofield because they are so unabashedly syn-
thetized. They evidence contempo- ing and TV monitor, looks austere Swell thetic and hybrid in conception and
rary reality and document the real but equally ludicrous. Are these kids Polymerized cement, fibreglass mixture
and filled with polyurethane realization. The curvilinear surfaces
life spaces we would largely disre- or adults playing these war games?
gard as art or photography, and that We get a sense of how technology has
are not usually thought to be part of abstracted our view of the world in
the popular mythology of art. Military Installation (2000). Here,
a Canadian armored vehicle has its
American-born Canadianized
turret pointed towards a fake
Cohen is best known for the living
panoramic landscape with standard
rooms, motels, halls, labs, show-
topographical features and sky. Fic-
rooms, classrooms, and factories of
tional reality becomes a training
the ordinary she has photographed.
ground for real life death... A work
She uncovers the quirky eccentrici-
from 1998 has a man in military gear
ties of these places as if life were a
(or is he a mannequin?) seated and
stage. The scenes and spaces look
moving down a hall with installed in-
like theatre props and scenarios. The
door tracking. This Endgame photo
absence of people is disquieting. Co-
is symmetry personified.
hen strangely twists these places of
clean steel, chrome and glass into Laboratory (1996) has a syn-
potential abattoirs of the contempo- thetic torso all wired up with no
rary psyche. She doesnit intrude and place to go that is worthy of the film
her aesthetic neutrality is quite dis- Bladerunner. This torso has a fully
quieting, (even very Canadian). It as detailed facial expression. He looks
if Lynne Cohen has to remove her like a talk show host but his lower
identity like clothing to capture and half is just an austere, dull metal
VIE DES ARTS N'187 93
are crinkled in varying degrees ac- Stephen Schofield plays willfully inches into space. The second sur- the film experience. Film Noir (Fly)
cording to the plastic used to wrap with the ambiguity of reconstructed prise is a sudden movement from a is an eloquent metaphor that not only
each form as a mold. These works meanings and associations, and what tiny video monitor that occurs every describes the director (whofixesthe
recall Schofield's early forays into looks innocent could actually have few seconds. In a futile attempt to fly to the table and the noir hero to
working with clay as a young artist. some sexual connotation. These right itself, theflykicks furiously, and his dark fate) as a sadist, but impli-
The mystery that pervades SWELL is amorphous baubles are like bodies then just as suddenly, stops. That the cates the viewer in the same project.
precisely because they look taboo attached by chance and affected by struggle in this animated still life has In an interview with David
and the aesthetic doesn't look main- random occurrences like the twist- no effect suggests that the insect is Sylvester, Douglas Gordon explains
stream. SWELL treads a fine line be- ing whitish form amidst the rest, that glued to the table. Film Noir (Fly) is that during his art school years, he
tween presence and absence, the vis- recreates the original clothesline perhaps the most uncanny and af- lost pleasure in watching movies.
ible and invisible, the seen and motif that inspired this piece. As fecting work by Douglas Gordon at The analytical skills he learned
unseen to great effect. The ultimate Schofield says: "I've often asked my- the Vancouver Art Gallery. In an ex- caused him to read and deconstruct
realization is that there is no resolu- self when the outside ends and the hibition replete with generously the mechanisms of the film rather
tion of formal properties or qualities. inside begins..." spaced large, projected video instal- than just enjoy the movie. There is a
Part of Schofield's purpose with John K. Grande lations, photographs and wall texts, great pleasure to be found in turn-
SWELL seems to be to defy the tradi- this postage stamp-sized video steals ing off the meaning making machine
tional site sensitive or functional la- the show.
in our heads and letting the art effect
bels that most public art and sculp- VANCOUVER Scottish artist Douglas Gordon is work on us. I think Gordon usesfilm
tural commissions adhere to. As famous for winning the 1\irner Prize noir movies because he likes them,
opposed to site sensitive work, while still in his twenties (1996) and
DOUGLAS GORDON: and he likes them because they offer
Schofield's work from the inside out, for his re-presentations of classic a glimpse at the darker aspects of the
from inner senses outwards into FILMIC RE-PRESENTATION(S) Hollywood film noir movies. I went
space. The idiom is expressive and culture that constructed him. Utili-
March 9-lune 16, 2002 to this exhibition prepared for dis- tarian nostalgia provides the inform-
impressive for the layout and appointment. What is a 35 year old
promiscuity of forms is daring, par- Vancouver Art Gallery ing principals of those who raised us.
artist doing having a retrospective?
ticularly as the industrial piping 750 Hornby St. These secret meanings are less read
How could hefillsuch a huge space?
holding the whole piece together has Vancouver, B.C. than understood. I have nothing to
I expected cleverness spread thinly.
V6Z 2H7 say before Film Noir (Fly) and noth-
not been embellished. Individually,
Tel: 604-662-4700 The work is clever, in the best ing I can say will help. And yet I am
Schofield's forms look isolated, but
Fax: 604-682-1086 and fullest sense of the word. Each flooded by memories of my own petty
they exist as a loose and intermittent installation is well crafted, intelligent
grouping that follows the raised A little square of light levitates at cruelties.
and witty. Gordon is a conceptual
piping as it wends its way through the eye-level before a black wall. Moving artist interested in identity, repro- David Garneau
garden space. closer, the beam resolves into an im- duction, authorship, audience and
age of an inverted housefly. Even be- pleasure andfiltersthese through his
fore considering the picture, the sensibility. Gordon's works are the VICTORIA, B.C.
viewer will be amazed by this spare records and experiments of a rest-
illusion. While touch reveals the im- less imagination interested in the
Douglas Gordon
MEDRIE MACPHEE
age to be flush with the wall, the eye very processes of being and becom-
Black Spot. 2000. & LANDON
Digital C-print. remains unconvinced: the glowing ing. Rather than burden us with his
Collection of Mark & Vanessa Mathysen-Gerst. square seems to hover at least four wounds and plead for empathy, Gor- MACKENZIE:
Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery, New York.
don appears amused by his own con- DOUBLE VISION
struction and wants to pass on this
March 22-June 30, 2002
curiosity and hisfindingsto viewers.
Horace Walpole once said, "This Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
world is a comedy lo those that think, 1040 Moss Street, Victoria, B.C.
a tragedy to those that feel." Douglas V8V 4P1
Gordon seems to be a thinker inter- Tel: 250-384-4101
ested in feelings. Fax: 250-361-3995
aggv@aggv.bc.ca
Among the many installations on
view one finds Gordon's famous 24 Landon Mackenzie (Vancouver)
Hour Psycho, a silent, crawling ver- and Medrie MacPhee (New York)
sion of the Hitchcock thriller. The are two artists whose paintings desta-
idea is simple and riveting. While it bilize our traditional notion of land-
would be impossible to maintain at- scape and the physical relationship
tention for the day long run of the they bring to one another. They share
film, stumbling into sections is oddly intellectual backgrounds informed
intoxicating. You find yourself at- by the discourses of abstraction,
tending to ridiculous details, held in feminism, and conceptualism. Both
frustrated anticipation, wanting to artists remain connected through
leave and yet willing to wait to for the an intricate exchange of ideas
next thrilling change in Janet Leigh's and language (both real and virtual)
expression. An artwork for autistics, and share a complex layering and
the world is silenced and slowed for structuring, embedded with personal
leisurely consumption. Especially
histories and fictions. Their works
during the shower scene, we are not
challenge how we think about loca-
only made self-conscious of our
voyeurism, but are given ample time tion.
to interrogate it, if we don'tfleefirst. Medrie MacPhee's eight paint-
Like Hitchcock, Gordon is interested ings in the AGGVis Double Vision
in affect, and in reception more than show are meticulously constructed,
expression. Both are also preoccu- characterized by "life forms" and fol-
pied with making the viewer aware low a long meditation on survival.
of the sadomasochism that underlies Recent MacPhee surrogates have
94 VIE DES ARTS N°l87Au service des sculpteurs depuis plus
de 35 ans
l*tc
Au premier rang des fonderies d'art au Canada
Fonte à la cire perdue de
bronze, argent, aluminium,
étain et acier inoxydable.
Nous offrons une
gamme complète
de services.
Fabrication
et agrandissement
Medrie MacPhee
The State of Things. 2002 de m o u l e s .
Northwest Passage, Mackenzie the
artist/cartographer transcribes these
onto canvases that resemble the
U N E F O I S PAR M O I S
shapes of maps. These palimpsests Rendez-vous à l'Hôtel Maritime
been hybrids derived from industrial Tel (905) 877-5455
are further obliterated by the artist's
cast-offs with body parts and inter-
energetic reworkings, paint layerings
nal organs, an examination of the
and adding of embellishments such
connections between bioforms and
as doilies, beads and glass, all this in
technology. Disturbing and hdarious, an effort to develop a highly per-
potent andflaccid,deformed and el- sonal, part real, part imagined nar-
egant, these mutants sustain them- rative. Space Station (Falls Said to Michèle Biner "Rose" 9 1/2" x 6 1/4" X 4" bronze.
selves in irradiated landscapes, be the Largest in the Known World
colour fields of intense opacity that So Far) remaps the night sky as seen 14 Armstrong ave Georj etown, (Ontario) L7G4R9
allow entry. The State of Things perhaps from Jupiter and contains a email: into» artcastlnc.com Tel: (905)457-9501
(2002), is a painting that embodies stunning array of celestial elements. website: www.artcastinc^om m Téléc: (905) X77-II205
Stephen Jay Gould's notion that if we Constellations cluster around a small
(the human species) die out,"...we'll gridded area of colourful lines, a
be replaced by some strange forms visual reference to early space struc-
of bacteria and other odd, unimag- tures used to map the Northern ter-
inable hybrids." Six elements co- ritories. Mackenzie's red "fallopian
inhabit a landscape of saturated tube entrance" disrupts the implied
colour, a space glowing with ra- space odyssey with a more sensuous
dioactivity, illuminated from within. image, one that is corporeal and in-
The left side is paired with a fragment timate. In Macke it to Thy Other
of industrial detritus and an erotic Side (Land of Little Sticks) a dia-
airbag. Therightside supports a pair logue between the artist and a Native
of exhausted, plant-like prostheses. woman develops. Visual elements in-
In the space between, a forked bone,
a furcula, floats accompanied at a
clude yellow blobs, meant to repre-
sent 1950's uranium mine sites at
GALLERY M LTD,
distance by small,fleshytissue frag- Lake Athabasca.
ments, possibly from an inner ear. Landon Mackenzie's revisions
Dissolving the boundaries between are postmodern and subvert the
actual space and the illusional space Utopian idealism of modernist paint-
of painting, Medrie MacPhee's paint- ing and literature. Coincidentally, her
en permanence
ings work like classicalfrescoes.We research is encoded with the ideas
enter into her future world and are
changed by the dysfunctional mu-
tants who reside there.
she attempts to undermine. What
emerges is a cacophony of sounds,
discordant echoes of silenced histo-
Jean-Paul Riopelle
In the adjacent AGGV gallery, ries and these paintings become
four large scale paintings from repositories of this music. Tran-
Landon Mackenzie's Tracking scribing geography, they reconstruct
Athabasca series (1998-2000) are spaces of dislocated consciousness.
on view, a body of work that evolved Both Mackenzie and MacPhee's
out of her Saskatchewan paintings paintings are encrusted with infor-
(1993-1997). The under structure mation, memory, and desire. Worlds
for the later works are actual 18* and of intricate beauties and unresolved
622 Richmond Street West, Toronto
19* century maps of the northern relationships are re-imagined.
Theirs is a postmodern, dystopian Ontario M5V 1Y9
border between Alberta and
Saskatchewan, i.e. the Northwest vision of layered displacements Tel.: (416) 504-5445
Territories. Mining the histories of (Mackenzie), and cyborg hybrids Fax: (416) 504-5446
exploration-texts from early explor- (MacPhee).
ers, fur traders, and seekers of the Linda Giles Membre de l'Association Professionnelle des Galeries d'Art du Canada
VIE DES ARTS N"l87 95You can also read
