EVAN LEE MONTE CLARK GALLERY
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $157 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country. Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 157 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.
MONTE CLARK GALLERY This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition: Evan Lee Monte Clark Gallery July 12 – August 9, 2014
Installation photos: David James / The Kreative Design: Monte Clark Gallery Front cover image: Evan Lee, installation view, Black Bloc Abstraction I and Black Block Abstraction II
Copyright Notice Images may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manupulated without written permission. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2014 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
In Evan Lee’s exhibition at Monte Clark Gallery, the artist recreates, transforms, and expands upon found news media images depicting protest and migration through sculpture, mixed media, and paintings. In contrast to popular, ubiquitous images of revolution and provocation (such as Alberto Korda’s portrait of Che Guevara, or the graffiti works of Banksy), the found press images that Lee refers to are markedly non-iconic, from nameless and faceless Black Bloc protesters to migrants whose identities have been obscured by the press. Lee approaches these images from a perspective of speculation, creating artworks that either reconstruct or further obscure the subjects. This dual process amplifies the missing details and facts that are not included in the original press images or their accompanying news stories, pointing to an inherent confusion or lack of clarity surrounding the actual events. This exhibition includes large-scale black and white paintings where silhouettes of marching Black Bloc protesters have been repeated in a motif that borders on abstraction; mixed media works where ink and gesture further obscure printed depictions of individual hooded and masked protesters; a 3D printed model of the Ocean Lady vessel which carried Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka to Canada in 2009; earth-toned, classical style oil portraits of the same migrants created in composite from blurry or pixelated press images and online searches; and a video that recreates the burning of a Danish flag, which was originally enacted by protesters in response to anti-Muslim cartoons that were published in Denmark. The works engage in a dialogue with news media images of protest, the interpretation of these images, their biases and their influence. Evan Lee lives and works in Vancouver, BC Canada. He has been published in Canadian Art Magazine, Art on Paper, Border Crossings, Flash Art, Yishu Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art and numerous other venues. Lee has recently exhibited at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Surrey Art Gallery, the Presentation House Gallery, and the Richmond Art Gallery. Lee is shortlisted for the 2014 Sobey Art Award and will be exhibiting with the other finalists at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in the fall.
Evan Lee Black Bloc (Black Blot), 2014 Mixed media on paper 40 x 26 inches
Evan Lee Black Bloc (Black Blot), 2014 Mixed media on paper 40 x 26 inches
Evan Lee Black Bloc (Black Blot), 2014 Mixed media on paper 40 x 26 inches
Evan Lee Installation view, Migrant Portraits and Model of a Migrant Ship, 2014
Evan Lee Migrant Portrait, 2013 - 2014 oil on canvas 22.5 x 18.25 inches
Evan Lee Migrant Portrait, 2013 - 2014 oil on canvas 22.5 x 17.5 inches
Evan Lee Migrant Portrait, 2013 - 2014 oil on canvas 22.5 x 18.5 inches
Evan Lee Migrant Portrait, 2013 - 2014 oil on canvas 18.5 x 22 inches
Evan Lee Migrant Portrait, 2013 - 2014 oil on canvas 22.5 x 20 inches
Evan Lee Migrant Portrait, 2013 - 2014 oil on canvas 20.5 x 26.5 inches
Evan Lee Migrant Portrait, 2013 - 2014 oil on canvas 18 x 15.5 inches
Evan Lee Burning Flag (after Jyllands-Posten), 2014 Video 5:35 looped
Evan Lee Black Bloc Abstraction I, 2014 oil on canvas 60 x 96 inches
Evan Lee Black Bloc Abstraction II, 2014 oil on canvas 60 x 96 inches
Evan Lee Model of a Migrant Ship, 2011 - 2012 3D printed prototype, display case and crate 42 x 45 x 13 inches