Omer Arbel at Monte Clark Gallery

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OMER ARBEL

MONTE CLARK GALLERY



MONTE CLARK GALLERY This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition: OMER ARBEL Monte Clark Gallery January 31 – February 28, 2015

Photography: Gwenael Lewis Design: Monte Clark Gallery Front cover image: Omer Arbel, “71” (installation view)

Copyright Notice Images may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manupulated without written permission. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2015 Monte Clark Gallery

MONTE CLARK GALLERY #105 - 525 Great Northern Way Vancouver, BC Canada V5T 1E1 604 730 5000 info@monteclarkgallery.com www.monteclarkgallery.com





Design is often considered commercial, functional, mass-produced—and employed as a means to an end. Throughout his ten-year practice, Arbel has produced numerous experiments that push materials beyond their conceived limits. In each case, invented fabrication techniques are structured to emphasize and challenge specific attributes of a material and to respond to the ‘gestalt’ of the produced artifact. Some of these experiments yield what can be called, in the context of Arbel’s design background, mistakes. Put in another way, they are curious and beautiful objects void of any commercial use. The great majority of Arbel’s material experiments are archived, and to date have existed in an uncomfortable limbo; they are not feasible as design objects and yet are too compelling to ignore. Recognizing in two such artifacts a synesthetic quality, this exhibition removes and changes the object intention and brings both into the realm of artwork. The titles of Arbel’s works reflect the chronological order in which they were produced, a system that frames all objects and experiments as part of one single body of work. For this show, the works 30 and 71 have been selected for exhibition. Viewed together in the context of the gallery, any functional applications relating to the objects have been removed. 30 explores the fusion of numerous glass rods of different diameter, opacity, and hue as they are exposed to a gradient of high temperatures. 71 results from an extremely repetitive process that involves submerging bolts wrapped in wire near-countless times into a nickel-based chemical solution with a live electric current running through it. Omer Arbel (b. 1976, Jerusalem) is based in Vancouver and Berlin. His interdisciplinary practice focuses on the intrinsic mechanical, physical, and chemical qualities of materials as fundamental departure points for making work of different scales, in various cultural-economic contexts. Arbel’s work has been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Spazio Rossana Orlandi (Milan), and Mallett (London), with upcoming permanent installations at Canada House (London) and a public space in Vancouver’s downtown core.


Omer Arbel 30 2015 Fused glass Dimensions variable Exhibition installations: 54 x 32 x 2 inches



Omer Arbel 71 2015 Steel, copper and nickel Dimensions variable Exhibition installations: 33 metres





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