Grace Nickel & William Pura

July 13 – September 18, 2009  |  Curated by Cliff Eyland

"Using porcelain, I am attempting to rebuild the trees by making casts of the demolished remnants. In my reclaimed ceramic trees, organic motifs and text are embedded in the trunks or applied to the surfaces of the segments that are being pieced together in a symbolic attempt to help mend the ravaged trees. The reconfigured ceramic forms embody traces of the trees' history and stand as memorials to loss. At the same time, in my efforts to reconstruct them in clay, and by creating a new textual 'bark' for the trees, I also acknowledge the potential for regeneration and recovery."

– Grace Nickel on Devastatus Rememorari

"Starting from the old downtown near the Red River, Logan Avenue stretches northwest through a variety of residential neighbourhoods, old and new industrial areas and finally ends in the transportation hub of the modern Prairies: the trucking industry and Winnipeg International Airport. Like my other images of the city, the human presence in these photographs is alluded to but not depicted in an obvious way. And like my earlier work, light, as defined by both natural and artificial sources, is an important element in defining the drama that is found in the relationships of the architectural and the natural environment."

– William Pura on his Logan Avenue (Winnipeg) photographs

  • The gallery viewed from above. A large sculpture depicting seven birch tree trunks chopped to various heights stands on a white surface in the centre of the room, resembling snow. One trunk is only partially visible behind another. And in the back corner, ten street photographs are hung in a line on the wall.
  • Close-up on the base of a sculpture depicting a birch tree trunk in the snow. The sculpture is mostly black, covered in messy white lines and textures. It is surrounded by a bed of small white rocks.
  • Ten street photographs hung in a line along the corner of two walls. a street sign reading “logan ave” in front of a white church, a road crossing over a creek surrounded by dead plants, a white house, a tree-lined dirt path, a blue house, a yellow house, an orange corner store, another white house, a fallen letter board, and a Christmas light display at night.
  • Five street photographs hung in a line along the corner of two walls. They feature a blue house, a yellow house, an orange corner store, a white house, and a fallen letter board.

Events:

  • Closing Reception: September 16, 5:00–8:00 PM


 Publications and Press:

 

Exhibition Archive (Downloadable PDF)