Terry Billings, Scott Rogers, Jordan Schwab and Biliana Velkova
September 10th – October 16th, 2010.
PAVED Arts component curated by David LaRiviere.
SKOL component curated by Nikki Middlemiss.
For a complete copy of the “Sprawl” Essay click here
(Part one of a two-part collaborative exchange with Galerie SKOL in Montreal. A 24-page publication will attend both parts of the exhibition.)
In a western and European contemporary sense, the mentality which actively forges into the land is one that arrives alongside of the oil age as an established given. Here is a conception of urbanity realized with a butter-knife, the ideal being a variation of ownership dictated to by colonial values and actively colonizing horizons. The upcoming group exhibition, selected from the membership of PAVED Arts, was conceived of as a cross-section encounter with just such a situation, fully trusting to meet with a critical, vibrant and engaged artistic register.
SPRAWL features the work of Terry Billings, Scott Rogers, Jordan Schwab, and Biliana Velkova, whose four critically engaged projects variously examine the “western” experience from the inside. While some common ground exists, curator David LaRiviere was more interested in developing a conversation around the idiosyncratic lines of each artist’s work, thereby avoiding generalization in deference to an actively evolving political engagement. Reflecting on a variety of social concerns, these artists are first of all children of their environment, whereby the real fun begins through an expression that develops critical thought.
