"Vitrine" features a suite of new works that address expressions of affection and protection in close, intimate relationships by drawing on the western museological tradition of glass display cases. These works are not entirely celebratory, however, since they take into account the use of the vitrine as a tool that captures and decontextualizes many cultural objects; for this reason, every vitrine represented in the exhibition is shattered or fragmented.
The series of monoprints titled Pudenda (2014) features geometric forms that recall the aesthetic conventions of mid-twentieth century hard edge abstraction. Pudenda implies a subtly present figurative, human element hidden in these geometric forms. The term “pudenda” is often used in art history to refer to the genitals as they are represented in a sculpture, painting, or photograph. The root meaning of the word refers to “parts to be ashamed of.” It can also imply an intimate object that deserves protection, or a relationship to be protected. Pudenda is a pictorial analogy for a fragile series of relationships that involve the transfer of fragments between different parties. Each print is a unique object created using individually inked plates, and these prints serve as the individual cells in the looping animation Love life (2015).
The gift (that I protect) (2015) is a series of three five-sided boxes fabricated with copper, solder, and a mixture of contemporary and antique coloured glass. Their form resembles that of glass cases used to house valuable items in a museum setting, but unlike museological vitrines, which are designed to transparently reveal the qualities of their contents, The gift (that I protect)’s coloured glass obscures what lies within. One panel on each of these glass rectilinear forms has been fragmented into a series of shards and then soldered back together. A single shard has been removed from each panel and replaced with a contrasting colour, creating a negative space that echoes that of the pudenda. This shattered panel suggests the theft of the object originally protected by this case, without which the vitrine might seem to have only decorative significance. The repair of this vitrine suggests its new use as a record of something broken and repaired with a piece taken from another (absent) vitrine, suggesting an intersection of two objects designed to protect a continually absent thing of value.
- Mark Clintberg
Mark Clintberg was born in Edmonton. He lives and works in Montreal. As an artist, critic, art historian and curator, he often reveals the fluidity between private and public, intellect and emotion, interior and exterior. He earned his Ph.D. in Art History at Concordia University in 2013, where he is an Assistant Professor, LTA. His work has recently been shown at the Dunlop Art Gallery (Regina), the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (Halifax), the Art Gallery of Alberta (Edmonton), the Illingworth Kerr Gallery (Calgary), AXENÉ07 (Gatineau), and Trapdoor Artist Run Centre (Lethbridge). Other exhibitions featuring his work have taken place at Locust Projects (Miami), the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), the Banff Centre, Centre des arts actuels Skol (Montreal) and Eastern Edge (St. John's). He was shortlisted for the 2013 Sobey Art Award for the region Prairies and the North. Public and private collections across Canada and in the United States including the National Gallery of Canada and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts have acquired his work.
The Gallery thanks SODEC for its support.
