May 23 – July 11
PLOT
James Carl (Toronto, ON)
Opening: May 23 @ 8pm
Artist’s Talk: May 24 @ noon

Toronto artist James Carl likes to mix things up—to confound references and test limits and then step back and watch things get funny. He combines a precise examination of the lexicon of sculpture with an abiding interest in the artifacts of public social life, filtered through the ubiquitous technologies and materials of contemporary industrialism. PLOT could be a story, a secret conspiracy, or a piece of real estate. Or perhaps the title refers to the activity of plotting the coordinates of the digital renderings that adorn various surfaces of artworks. Combining sculpture with graphic work, Plot demonstrates Carl's contrary approach to traditional artistic methods and materials, and the ways these things are both conditioned and altered by expectation and use.

PLOT is being presented and produced in collaboration with the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver, BC) where the exhibition was presented in March 2003. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue with an essay by Robin Peck and an interview between the artist and CAG curator Christina Ritchie. The catalogue also includes colour reproductions of works in the exhibition and was co-published by Open Space.

PLOT marks James Carl’s return to Victoria where he studied as an undergrad at the University of Victoria.