‘GOLDEN’ La Petite Mort Gallery Exhibit Catalogue
GOLDEN. Catalogue for La Petite Mort Gallery (Ottawa, 2011). Group exhibition curated by Zachari Logan. 11 x 7.5 Inches. Edition 1/50. Signed by the curator. 36 pages. $35.
La Petite Mort Gallery presents:
GOLDEN
Group Exhibit / July 2 – 31, 2011
Vernissage Saturday July 2 / 7 – 10pm
Artwork by EVERGON courtesy of Galerie St Laurent + Hill, Ottawa.
Evergon (Montreal)
Gina Dawson (New York)
Clint Neufeld (Saskatchewan)
Benjy Russell (Tennessee),
Andrew Salgado (UK/Canada)
Zachari Logan (Saskatchewan)
Jordan Schwab & Karla Griffin (BC/Saskatchewan)
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Statement:
GOLDEN
The other bodily fluid…
The one that we all share with the world on a daily basis (possibly hourly, depending on our activities). It is flushed underneath the cities we walk and the homes in which we reside out to the lakes and rivers eventually returning to our tap water freshly chlorinated. Alchemists even believed that gold could be mined from it. Materially formed of nitrogen-rich by-products that need to be ejected from the bloodstream- and therefore the body, this function is often shamed socially or simply seen as vulgar, explored only to determine health and contagion.
Each of the works in GOLDEN involves the body, whether or not visually present. The association with figuration is established implicitly, since urine is made through this natural bodily function. If a certain openness and sense of play are required for artists working with a theme such as urine, that combination was certainly set out- but in no way exhausted in the brilliance of Serrano’s Piss-Christ. Vandalized on numerous occasions, (most notably in 1997 in Australia at the National Gallery of Victoria, and recently, earlier this year attacked with a hammer by religious zealots in France) Serrano’s critique of catholic teachings regarding shame and the human body has incited as much negative as positive response.
When Guy Bérubé and I began discussing the idea of an exhibition centered on the theme of urine, my first thoughts went to the kitschy pencil sketches famous in Saskatchewan, my province of origin, of farm kids pissing on tires; with titles like, “Boys Will Be Boys” or “Farm Morning.” My mind also formed associations of rich warm colours, decadent food, and the sprite-fury of gilded, rococo aesthetics. The works in GOLDEN all straddle a line set somewhere between these two poles, between pastoral and opulent sensuality. Thoughtfully and humorously each artist in their own way has reflected on the everyday utility of piss, engendering corporeal ideas of beauty, sensuality, humour, decadence, identity and sociality. With a substance that is as mundane as it is intriguing and taboo, the varying approaches to material and content in GOLDEN allow for an intellectually stimulating and intensely playful visual experience.
We are all fountains, not of youth – but piss… this exhibition is a celebration of that cup flowing over.