NAC hosts Architectures for Nostalgia
Matthew Hadley
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
|
Sunday marked the opening of the NAC's newest exhibit, Architectures for Nostalgia.
Running from Aug. 31 until Oct. 19, Architectures for Nostalgia is a two person exhibition being displayed at the Niagara Artists' Centre, featuring collections from Colin Lyons and Andrea Kastner. Though vastly different in aesthetics, both artists' work are composed of many of the same underlying themes as they present the neglected areas of Montreal.
Lyons' work depicts many of the abandoned factories that make up the industrial end of Montreal. Using printmaking for its association to reproduction, as well as its connection between art and industry, Lyons captures the truly desolate side of abandonment, yet in this, finds a promising resolution.
"I'm really interested in abandoned buildings and the ways they grow organically," said Lyons. "The way through becoming dilapidated, the graffiti and other random human interaction, they take on new life."
Lyons' exploration involved the artist spending about 100 hours working on each piece, photographing the buildings countless times from all possible angles.
"The process is very important for what I'm talking about," said Lyons. "Essentially, what normally happens with any printmaker is, when they're finished, they take their plates, put an 'x' through it, and throw them in a drawer. What I do instead is solder them together. In one way, it kind of gives them a second life, and a lot of these buildings are being given second lives through becoming art galleries or studios, or lofts, or whatever. At the same time, it's also eliminating its possibility for function. Once it's soldered it can never be printed again, so it's sort of a two part, where the abandoned becomes completely obsolete in its original function by becoming an object."
While working on his collection, Lyons ran into problems; confronted by squatters who had taken up residence in some of the buildings. This, along with graffiti murals, provides an additional beauty to the buildings, many of which are in discussions for revitalization.
"I'm really interested in the possibilities of after the industry has left," said Lyons. "So it's not only the abandonment, but also the possibility of regeneration [...] you've kind of got a really interesting history to all of these as they undergo these transitions."
Be the first to comment on this story