The Cultural Center of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
announces the opening of the exhibition
Canadian Impressions
February 28 to April 29, 2011
Monday–Friday, 11 AM–6PM
An exhibition honoring Canada and the City of Calgary, in the province of Alberta,
site of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank.
Twelve Canadian artists: Briar Craig, Delio Delgado, René Derouin, Katie Fife,
Joscelyn Gardner, Michel Gautier, Vanessa Hall-Patch, Miriam Rudolph, Tracy L. Templeton,
Todd Tremeer, Oscar Danilo Vargas, and Laura Widmer, selected from an Open Call, present 34 works
in various printmaking techniques, from etching to monotype.
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Washington, DC, February 15, 2011
On occasion of the celebration of the 52nd Annual Meeting of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank, in Calgary, Alberta, in March of this year, the IDB Cultural Center pays tribute to Canada with an exhibition in Washington, DC entitled “Canadian Impressions,” which gathers twelve printmakers belonging to different regions in Canada. The multicultural background of the artists selected exemplifies just one aspect of the fascinating cultural spectrum of Canada today.
In the words of IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno: “Artists’ expressions reflect their personal experience and their vision of their surroundings, borrowing from history, tradition, memory and identity to help frame their vision of the future. Society itself is changing at an unprecedented pace, driven by fundamental global economic and technological changes. Personal interaction is reformulated, for example, with new communications tools in a digital age. But age-old questions of religion, migration, security, human rights and many other issues also profoundly affect politics and behavior.
“Artists are particularly aware of, and motivated by, the challenges our civilization faces as part of the ongoing evolution of our way of thinking and new methods imagined to maximize progress. They immerse themselves in the problems posed to survival and existence, striving to respond creatively to highlight the experience of life itself, while celebrating the achievements and joys of being human. It is healthy for others to learn from such an attitude and to put it into practice, day after day. This artistic context is perhaps the most significant aspect of this subtle yet powerful exhibition.”
The curator of the exhibition is Félix Ángel, Director of the IDB Cultural Center. The twelve artists were selected from an open call widely disseminated in Canada last year. According to Ángel, “Change is good when it is for the better, of course, but its paradoxical nature entails many risks. While embracing change is not a guarantee of things getting better, not pursuing it condemns us to perennial doubt about what else can be done to improve our lives. Artists are particularly susceptible to change because of their sensibility, their humanistic view of civilization, their holistic concept of the world, and their tendency to be uncompromising with regard to principles. Increasing levels of anxiety are symptomatic of a pattern pervading society these days that needs to be modified.”
The inner dimension of each of the twelve artists selected for this exhibition is reflected in the number of connections one finds between their particular expressions and the many priority issues of the Inter-American Development Bank, as it continues its efforts to forge a better world.
• Briar Craig appears to be motivated by our uncontrolled impulses to respond to quantities of information regardless of its quality and meaning.
• Delio Delgado continues his investigation in the context of his personal realm, in an attempt to assert himself within a cartographical or architectural space, with references to the Diaspora, migration, and the politics of belonging.
• René Derouin’s “quasi-anachronistic” images project a spirit of openness towards the Americas, sustained in the accelerated intercultural character of the region.
• Katie Fife draws from the documentation of memory to the extreme obliteration of intangible realms.
• Joscelyn Gardner uses artifacts found in museum collections as points of departure to examine social narratives on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Caribbean plantations.
• Michel Gautier’s sculptural prints reformulate nature with “trees” made out of recycled materials and photolithographic techniques that aspire to recapture the spirit of people.
• Vanessa Hall-Patch counterbalances apparent opposites such as permanence and transience.
• Miriam Rudolph focuses on visual diaries that narrate her experiences and perceptions of the different places she has visited, with premeditated consciousness.
• Tracy L. Templeton documents the human presence in places that no longer exist except in memory.
• Todd Tremeer uses allegory to envision parallels between the past and the present, challenging history’s construction.
• Oscar Danilo Vargas’s monotypes embody the fragility of the human being in a fluctuating world. And finally,
• Laura Widmer challenges the digital age, choosing to use a traditional process to create images that are focused on individuals and the standards and practices of our society.
In sum, “Canadian Impressions” is a dense exhibition camouflaged with a deceptive appearance of innocence, lightness, and ingenuity; it is reinforced with a strong, diverse determination to show sides of a world that tires and suffocates us, but where the promise of a better future is not yet lost. That is, at once, the most disturbing and the most outstanding quality of this exhibition.
