JUDE GRIEBEL

MESS-MAKER

 

 

NOVEMBER 3 – 25, 2017

OPENING RECEPTION – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3,  6-11PM

 

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Evans Contemporary is pleased to present Mess-Maker, an exhibition of sculptures by Alberta/NY based artist, Jude Griebel.

 

Griebel’s recent work presents sculptures of hybrid bodies, whose anatomy is merged with their surroundings. These figures are compromised by situations of consumption, excess and disregard, played out on their dioramic surfaces. Bodies composed of dirt are paved over and strewn with litter. A body formed of garbage walks awkwardly, a seagull standing in for its head. In these works, the artist is not so much interested in how waste is generated, but rather how we re-digest popular images of accumulation and environmental degradation, weaving them into the fabric of our subconscious. The sculptures embody these internalized and conflicted narratives of want and ruin, reifying them in monstrous and mythological proportions. Though informed by broader cultural desires and anxieties, the works resonate at a more personal level through the use of playful humour, and autobiographical reference.

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The figures Griebel creates build on the tradition of the grotesque, as a significant marker of the abject body throughout time. Through its distortion of the natural, this genre has long functioned as a cultural tool for visualizing and coming to terms with transition. In his works, he combines grotesque representations from historical painting and pop culture to create psychological and visual links between our selves and our shifting environment.

 

Griebel’s works are handcrafted in painted laminate and resins. They draw their technique from both natural science models and imaginary bodies constructed for theatrical effects and as costumes. Dioramic elements play an important role in his works, in regards to the material and conceptual staging of space. As a tool historically created for promoting fantastic illusion, the diorama was re‐adapted by science for the display of natural history. Griebel is drawn to the overlaps between the presentation of scientific fact and imagined experience. By layering these opposed realities, He attempts to destabilize existing narratives about the interrelationship of our bodies to the surrounding world.

 

 

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JUDE GRIEBEL

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Jude Griebel completed an MFA in Ceramics and Sculpture from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada in 2014, and has completed numerous residencies including MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA (2017); Kunstnarhuset Messen, Norway (2016); and HALLE 14 Center for Contemporary Art, Leipzig, Germany (2015) and the International Studio and Curatorial Program, New York, USA, where he is currently in residence until 2019.

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A major sculptural installation of his work was featured in Future Station: The 2015 Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Alberta, and recent solo exhibitions include Esker Foundation, Calgary, AB; Redpath Museum, Montreal, QC; dc3 Art Projects, Edmonton; Galerie Johannes Sturm, Nuremberg, Germany and The Museum Lytke Project Space, Leipzig, Germany. In 2017, his public sculpture Plastic Ghost was mounted in the city center of Jyväskylä, Finland.

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Griebel is a three-time recipient of the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation grant for emerging figurative artists and his projects have been supported by major grants from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Canada Council for the Arts.

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His work has recently been featured in publications including Art + Design, Magenta Magazine and Canadian Art.

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Griebel is the co-founder and co-director of the Museum of Fear and Wonder, a rural museum in Alberta that promotes reflection on the narrative and psychological qualities of objects.

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Griebel works between the community of Bergen, Alberta and Brooklyn, New York.

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EVANS CONTEMPORARY

 

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.

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