No one ever said visual art was going to be easy. Case in point: Traces, a new exhibit featuring the works of three artists (Daniel Barrow, Alison Norlen, and Ed Pien), who are pushing limits of visual art by experimenting with both materials used and, more philosophically, the space usedŃor not usedŃto show the work.
“The work is not didactic,” says Nicole Stanbridge, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria associate curator, contemporary art. “It’s not going to tell them what to think. It will ask them to experience the work and come to their own conclusion.”
What that conclusion is depends on what those experiencing the exhibit take away from it, of course. Stanbridge wants people to get a chance to re-examine the simple art of drawing, and how it can be displayed. She says she hopes that those who see the exhibit get “an opportunity to experience the potential for drawing to be defined in a broad way and through a range of media. To see how what we call drawing can move beyond a two-dimensional format into a three-dimensional realm.”
Pien says that everyone who comes will have a very direct and personal response to the works, because everyone comes to the exhibit with their own set of experiences and knowledgeÉ and, of course, taste.
“Without any question, the audience will become active participants,” he says. “The more they engage with the various works, the more they’ll get out of the show. All the works contain multiple meanings and their meanings are subject to negotiation with the audience.”
For Barrow, the exhibit is an example of art that is both extremely meticulously crafted and easy to digest. But the more time you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it.
“The exhibition has a broad appeal,” says Barrow. “The work represents the work of thousands of hours of skilled craftsmanship and deep investigation of the self. It’s a very accessible show so it would be hard to imagine anyone with a passing interest in visual culture being bored.”
Pien definitely suggests Camosun students go check out the exhibit to see a refreshing amount of diversity, and just maybe to get a chance to experience visual art in a whole new way.
“The works in the exhibition present a rich and diverse variety of concepts, materials, and processes as well as means of engagement, be it physical, visual, aural, intellectual or emotional,” he says.
“Works range from small maquettes to monumental drawings, large-scale papercuts, multiple time-based projections, and immersive installations,” he continues. “The Camosun students will be challenged and seduced by what they encounter. There are many lovely surprises along the way.”
Traces
Until April 21
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
aggv.ca/exhibitions/traces