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DAVID MILLER
CRYSTAL ARCHIVE
MAY 4 – MAY 26, 2018
OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY, MAY 4, 6-11PM
“Archive as much as you like: something will always be left out.”
- Pierre Nora
Comprised of hundreds of photographs arranged as lively tessellations, where the gallery’s walls are enfolded into the colourful work, and an array of cast iron and bronze things; Crystal Archive develops the artists’ ongoing interest with the elemental properties of photography as a means to question photography's uncertain (ontological) status, its direct link between what is imaged with the image itself and, to respond, in part, to the dematerialization of photographic information by digitization in light of the archival turn. The cast iron and bronze sculpture forms a weighted, profane counterpoint to the artists’ ‘live’, abstract photographs.“Photographs have a special connection to the worlds they describe and create, to those things that once existed but no longer do.”
D A V I D M I L L E R
David Miller was born in Montréal. His installations, site works, performances and photographs have been exhibited across Canada, in China, Czech Republic, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Slovakia, and in the United States. Miller is the 2014 winner of the Duke and Duchess of York Prize in Photography. Broadly, his work explores the relationship between what is evident (appearance) and the unrecoverable (disappearance).
In an era of fleeting snapshots that appear and disappear in cyberspace, his works are testament to the power of photographs as things – time bound memorials of elusive subjects. Miller’s practice is a persistent enquiry into the nature and act of photography itself.
The artists’ exhibitions include: Labyrinth of Things at the Josef Sudek Atelier, and Sol’s Light at Skolska, both in Prague, Czech Republic; Das Spydermann at L.A.C.E., Los Angeles; Small World, at Stadtmuseum, Münster, Germany; Execution at W139, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Markado at Centro de la Imagen in Mexico; Collecting Shadows, PlugIn ICA, Winnipeg; Raj (Paradise) at Hermit, Plasy, Czech Republic.
Miller studied art at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design; experimental film at Sheridan College; art and the public sphere at Simon Fraser University and at the Jan Van Eyk Akademie; and contemporary art at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. David Miller lives in Southern Alberta with artist Petra Malá Miller and his daughter, Fara, and is an Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Lethbridge.
E V A N S C O N T E M P O R A R Y
Evans Contemporary is dedicated to the presentation of creative projects by national and international contemporary artists. Located in Peterborough, Ontario, the gallery is situated off the courtyard of a late Victorian building in the heart of the café and arts district. Its mandate is to launch contemporary exhibitions every four to six weeks and offer a unique space for special projects and new endeavours for each exhibiting artist, while allowing artists to present projects that transcend the trends of the commercial visual art market.
Evans Contemporary falls just outside of the entrenched public and private gallery sectors. It is privately owned and operated, and runs as a negative profit exhibition space. Through its generous supporters and patrons, it serves to provide exceptional, contemporary exhibitions to a region underserviced by visual culture. The gallery serves as a rallying point for artists, cultural workers and art lovers of the Kawartha Lakes region. In addition to its physical exhibitions, and openings, Evans Contemporary coordinates online documentation and publications for each exhibition. Operating as an amalgamation of artist-run centre, museum, institute, and private foundation, Evans Contemporary fills a void in the cultural landscape of the region, plays an important role as a leader in the cultural fabric of Peterborough and the Kawartha region, and stands as a signifying site of local culture.