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Alison Norlen, Untitled (Mirage Series), 2005, mixed media.
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Alison Norlen, Untitled (Mirage Series), 2005, mixed media.
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Alison Norlen, Untitled (Mirage Series), 2005, mixed media.
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Alison Norlen, Untitled (Float Niagara Falls), 2002, mixed media.
Alison Norlen: Roller Coaster
September 13 – October 25, 2008
SFU Gallery
Alison Norlen’s drawings are monumental, Piranesi-like deconstructed probings of the built, structural world. Her art in this exhibition is about the seductiveness of built structures, especially those in themed entertainment zones such as amusement parks and malls. Norlen's obsession with structure, more particularly her use of a dominant colour for each work to set its emotional tone, resembles Anselm Kiefer's monumental paintings of the 1980s. The objects in Norlen's pictorial world are not just physically, but also socially constructed; they take on aspects of the human condition, as in the claustrophobic crowding of objects or their irrational failure to connect in space.
Alison Norlen is originally from Northern Ontario; she is Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Saskatchewan.
Curated by Bill Jeffries.
Events
Opening Reception
Saturday, September 13, 2008, 3–5pm
Artist Talk: Alison Norlen
Thursday, September 11, 2008, 7pm
At Emily Carr University, 1400 Johnson Street
Granville Island, Vancouver, South Building Lecture Hall 301
Co-sponsored by SFU Gallery and ECU
Lunchtime Tours of the Exhibition
Tuesday, October 7, 12:05pm and 12:35pm
Wednesday, October 8, 12:05pm and 12:35pm
Thursday, October 9, 12:05pm and 12:35p