Quantal Strife
Quantal Strife
January 26 to March 6
Opening January 25, 8pm
Artist talk January 26, noon
Quantal Strife is an invitation to consider contemporary artworks as “signposts to a thought process, a body of knowledge, or a frame of reference.” The exhibition, curated by artist/critic/writer Sally McKay, samples the work of three artists: Scott Carruthers, Crystal Mowry and Marc Ngui.
These three artists each take a distinctive path to investigate artistic preoccupations. Scott Carruthers works fast to bypass self-censorship, filling entire walls with his immersive and intense iconography. Crystal Mowry has created a miniature version of the gardens at Versailles that features a tiny traveling camera, broadcasting the hypothetical point of view of tiny people. Marc Ngui has been making drawings based on concepts in the hefty theoretical tome A Thousand Plateaus: Capitalism and Schizophrenia by Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari.
Quantal Strife is curated by Sally McKay, an energetic and influential artist and curator who will be in residence at Open Space from January 14 to February 9. There is a curatorial talk scheduled with Sally on Saturday, January 19 7pm.
She would like to meet as many Vicotria Artists as she can while in residence, and plans to develop an exhibition based on the work she encounters. Sally McKay’s office hours for drop-in visits: Wednesday and Thursday, January 23 and 24, 12:00noon to 5:00pm. You can also make a formal appointment with Sally by calling Open Space at 383-8833.
In addition, a special sound event in conjunction with Quantal Strife will be performed on January 28.
In cooperation with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra’s New Currents Festival of Music, Open Space New Music Coordinator Tina Pearson, along with vocalist Cathy Lewis and composer Reiche have developed music inspired by the ideas circulating in Quantal Strife. The Quantal Strife sound project invited members of the Victoria art community to explore mutual and conflicting themes and languages between the two disciplines through a series of investigations that, like the Quantal Strife installation, focuses on the process of art-making itself, and our role in that art. Michael Benneyworth, Pamela Millar, George Tzanetakis, Diane Taylor, Ernest Cholakis and Tina Pearson, who leads a series of improv workshops with members of the community, will participate in the performance on Monday evening, January 28 at 8pm. Admission is $8/$10.
Quantal Strife was organized and circulated by the Doris McCarthy Gallery, Toronto.