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Three's company The Space Between 3 shows the mayhem of modern life by KEITH MARCHAND
Upon entering the gallery, I was immediately grabbed by 12 oil paintings that took up the entire west wall. Called "Private," these highly realistic works by Chris Ross form a series that take inspiration from the old gumshoe flicks of the late 1940s. Each canvas portrays a slice-of-life image, accompanied by one line of Sam Spade-styled text. The works loosely connect to form a narrative in which the artist/detective examines some of the objects and images, both popular and personal, that compose her everyday life. Consumer products and media figures, junk food, magazines and surreal suburban vistas all figure into different "crime scenes" and express concerns about lifestyle and self-image. One particular scene, featuring waxy, bluish doll parts floating in a toilet bowl, is indicative of the climate of mystery and the spectre of suspense that pervades the entire series. Ross effectively lends an ominous film noir feel to some otherwise benign scenes--offering a canny and humorous view of American life. Occupying the centre of the gallery is an installation by Mariela Borello titled "A Mouthful." Using small plastic ice-cube sacks, some wire and water, Borello has managed to create a grand, crystalline chandelier that hangs over a round mirror placed on the floor. Looking remarkably convincing, the piece is effective in its examination of illusion and artifice because it is difficult to recognize that the object is not, indeed, the real thing. At the end of the exhibition, drained of its water, the chandelier will cease to exist as such, thus addressing the fleeting and ephemeral nature of existence. The clever, humorous and slightly twisted mixed media sculpture of Anne Sangil Kim resides in a grey area between highly personalized, private and delicately intricate objects and out-and-out whimsy. Most of the works play directly with slightly skewed common phrases and popular images, such as "Bee in a Bonnet," featuring an actual little honey-bee sporting a lid that Laura Ingals Wilder would have been proud of. "Humpty Dumpty" features the head of a real bird emerging from an egg, carefully placed upon the base of a wineglass atop a russet, velvet box inside a glass case. "Scare Crow" is a little Lewis Carroll-type of creature with a toy soldier/Swiss Guard body made of painted wood with a mallard duck head. This little fellow is exactly the type of thing you might expect to find standing on your chest in the middle of the night clutching a little knife. The other artists exhibiting in the show are Mathieu Beauséjour, Sofie Fekete, Jérôme Fortin, Chloe Lefebvre, Vida Simon and Stephen LaReign Hues. There is a lot going on in this ambitious and largely playful show. But what better way to convey the disarray of modern life than through a chaotic and somewhat frantic show? The Space Between 3 is at the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine) until Aug. 17. 739-2301 |
Currently running at the Gallery of the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts is an lively and eclectic exhibition called The Space Between 3. The show features sculpture, installation, painting, photography and video by nine Montreal-based artists selected by curators Katia Meir (the gallery's assistant director), Lucinda Catchlove (Hour magazine's art critic) and Emmanuel Galland (photographer and co-op gallery director). The idea behind this biennial summertime exhibition is to push the margins with artists who have not had much exposure and with a curatorial staff that is relatively new to this particular role.