ArtGuide - Museum
October
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October 2011
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FONDAZIONE ANTONIO PRESTI -FIUMARA D’ARTE
International Museum of Image
Terzocchio Meridiani di Luce - Sole di Mezzanotte
(ThirdEye Meridian of
Light - Midnight Sun)
Librino,Catania
Deadline: Ongoing
Terzocchio Meridiani di Luce - Sole di Mezzanotte
(ThirdEye Meridian of
Light - Midnight Sun)
Librino,Catania
Deadline: Ongoing
Call to Artist
THIS EXHIBITION brings together the work of four contemporary artists from three circumpolar countries: Jacob Dahl Jürgensen / Simon Dybbroe Møller (Denmark), Ragnar Kjartansson (Iceland) and Kevin Schmidt (Canada).
Each of the artists references the idea of wilderness as a site for aesthetic contemplation as well as artistic action. They evoke a nostalgia for the wild, romantic landscape that was pictured by artists in the 19th century. Theirs are empty landscapes, seemingly uninhabited, pristine and remote, except for the presence of the artist.
Using the landscape as the back drop for an event or performance, the artists in UP NORTH often assume the role of musician. Music is used as both the structuring element for the work, but more importantly for its larger cultural references, that shift us from sentimentality to the apocalyptic Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson’s installation, The End, is a folk-country music video with the artist and his collaborator performing in the snowyRocky Mountains.
Danish artists Jacob Dahl Jürgensen / Simon Dybbroe Møller’s work, Flotsam and Jetsom, consists of a group of sculptural objects, a vinyl record and a film. Musical instruments constructed from shoreline debris were used in an improvisational performance that is played back in the gallery space, with the instruments displayed as almost arte povera sculptures.
Two works by Canadian artist Kevin Schmidt are included in UP NORTH. A Sign in the Northwest Passage depicts an excerpt from the Book of Revelations on a large cedar sign which was installed on the ice of the Northwest Passage. Designed with flotation devices, the sign was left on site to float in the spring thaw, warning all passersby of the coming of the end of the world. In the summer of 2011, Schmidt returned to the arctic in an attempt to recover the sign.
In the other work, Wild Signals, Schmidt transforms a barren Yukon landscape with a performance of light, sound and dry ice. It is an imaginary stage in a frigid northern landscape, with an absent band, performing a universal desire to communicate.
Each of the artists references the idea of wilderness as a site for aesthetic contemplation as well as artistic action. They evoke a nostalgia for the wild, romantic landscape that was pictured by artists in the 19th century. Theirs are empty landscapes, seemingly uninhabited, pristine and remote, except for the presence of the artist.
Using the landscape as the back drop for an event or performance, the artists in UP NORTH often assume the role of musician. Music is used as both the structuring element for the work, but more importantly for its larger cultural references, that shift us from sentimentality to the apocalyptic Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson’s installation, The End, is a folk-country music video with the artist and his collaborator performing in the snowyRocky Mountains.
Danish artists Jacob Dahl Jürgensen / Simon Dybbroe Møller’s work, Flotsam and Jetsom, consists of a group of sculptural objects, a vinyl record and a film. Musical instruments constructed from shoreline debris were used in an improvisational performance that is played back in the gallery space, with the instruments displayed as almost arte povera sculptures.
Two works by Canadian artist Kevin Schmidt are included in UP NORTH. A Sign in the Northwest Passage depicts an excerpt from the Book of Revelations on a large cedar sign which was installed on the ice of the Northwest Passage. Designed with flotation devices, the sign was left on site to float in the spring thaw, warning all passersby of the coming of the end of the world. In the summer of 2011, Schmidt returned to the arctic in an attempt to recover the sign.
In the other work, Wild Signals, Schmidt transforms a barren Yukon landscape with a performance of light, sound and dry ice. It is an imaginary stage in a frigid northern landscape, with an absent band, performing a universal desire to communicate.
UP NORTH
Curated by Catherine Crowston, AGA Chief Curator / Deputy Director
Presented by Enbridge
Organized by the Art Gallery of Alberta
Presented by Enbridge
Organized by the Art Gallery of Alberta
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Art Gallery of Alberta, until 8 January 2012