Wednesday, October 9, 1991 - North Shore News - 43

Archie Graham
SPOTLIGHT FEATURE

Interieur Jour by Claude-
Philippe 8enoit, and Roses,
Wind, and Other Stories by
April Hickox at Presentation
House, 333 Chesterfield Ave.
Wed.-Sun.: 12-5, Thurs: 12-9.

any potential art

lovers are confused

or intimidated by
contemporary art.
- Some do not understand what
abstract art is all about, while
others cannot see art in anything
but an oil painting or a bronze
sculpture.

In response to this problem,
most art galleries provide an ar-
tist’s statement with each eexhibit,
a brief declaration of principle or
intention. In some cases, these
statements are‘a useful guide to
viewing the work.

In the current exhibition of two
artists at Presentation House,
however, the artists’ statements
are virtually useless, but for entire-
ly different reasons in each case.

- Claude-Philippe Benoit's state-
ment is incoherent and mean-
‘ingless, and serves only to con-
; c

An artist’s
declaration of
intention should
clarify, not confuse

found the viewer's readings of vi-
sual images that stand well enough
on their own, while April Hickox’
statement, though clear and to the
point, does not really help us to
unravel the subtleties in her
photographs.

Benoit claims that his ‘work is
a reflection that touches on the
realms of reality’s double in
reverse, the mythical realms of the
history of the scenario.”

! would be happy to hear from
any reader who can tell me what
this means. The mast | can make
of it is that it alludes to the
hackneyed distinction between il-
lusion and reality.

But this hardly sets up a
perspective from which intelligent-
ly to view the work. Fortunately,
however, the latter functions ef-
fectively by itself.

Benoit pairs silverprints of
diverse “intesiors’” of Queen
Charlotte Island forests, on the one
hand, with empty factory
workshops or corporate offices, on
the other,

By rendering both in black and
white, and by controlling tone and
lighting in each, the artist succeeds
in minimizing the contrasts be-
tween the two sets of images.

In the absence of the human
figure, we focus on a kind of

" See Hickox page 44 ~

PHOTOGRAPHS FROM
Roses, ‘Wind, and Other
Stories by April Hickox at
Presentation House. Hickox
describes her works as
“stories”: that ‘give glimp-
ses into passing moments,
periccs of change, confu- .
sion, and growth in my
life.” Also showing is in-
terlous Jour by Ctaude-
Philippe Senait.

.
J

Iness and cryptic imag

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