SIX THINGS.........Colleen Brown, Jacob Gleeson, Jake Hill, Zane Kozak, Laura Piasta, Mark Rayson 2002

COLLEEN BROWN              “A hare comprehends more than many human
JACOB GLEESON                beings with their stubborn rationalism.”
JAKE HILL                                                            - Joseph Beuys 1965
ZANE KOZAC
LAURA PIASTA
MARK RAYSON                                                                     
                                                                                                     157 e Cordova St./  Van,  BC
Opening Friday November 8, 2002  9-12                        
until November 23, 2002 (sat & sun 12-5)                       

The Crying Room is pleased to announce a group exhibition of recent work by six emerging artists who work primarily with sculpture and installation.  These six artists have a quirky sense of scientific exploration within their work that questions the use and importance of everyday materials – specifically interior objects, and architectural structures with inviting tangible qualities.  Construction and deconstruction are key concepts within this exhibition.  Conversions from useful objects to useless and useless objects into useful give a riddle-like quality to the exhibition.  This dichotomy suggests questions towards the functional value of objects as art objects through a contextual shift.  This group exhibition is a type of psychoanalytical deconstruction that explores objects as signifiers and clues to characteristics of their possessors or consumers, as well as investigating the viewers engagement with the object presented, and what they reveal.

Colleen Brown’s Obelus is an experiment with indexical surface and responsive structure.  Obelus has a minimal exterior and a complex interior structure which is unexpectedly inviting and is shaped progressively throughout the exhibition by ‘human touch’.

Jacob Gleeson attempts to capture/recreate impressions of daily human phenomena that is -- “how we are”.  Gleeson presents an everyday sculpture of a parked car as a living environment.

Jake Hill is engaged with describing bodily sensations through objects and material.  Waterpants reflects elements of human structure with a whimsical twist.  

Zane Kozak is interested in stories told through objects, the information that they inevitably reveal about their owners.  Kozak invents a type of trophy, William Chow Remix,  which investigates the response of receiving or inventing a “prize”.

Laura Piasta fills cracks in the wall with tiny, colourful, soft pillows.  She suggests that these stuffed bricks are simply “stuff” to fill in cracks, or that perhaps there is a whole soft and colourful world behind the wall that is “bursting-out”.

Mark Rayson alters pre-existing objects in combination with other objects which deconstructs its former meaning and invents a new dialogue.  Rayson displays a framed aquarium on the wall as a living picture inviting surveillance.

Most of the work in this exhibition addresses objects as “stuff” that defines and consumes individuals through attached mythology, it also raises the notion of value and personal identity that we often ascribe to inanimate objects.

The Crying Room is an independent non-profit artist run centre representing and exhibiting emerging artists locally and nationally since 1999.
Curated by David Yonge and Colleen Heslin.