Architypes

Ivan Dougherty Gallery presents Architypes, an exhibition exploring architecture and interior design in the work of six artists; two Canadian, two Japanese and two Australian. Fresh from its Vancouver debut in February 2004, the exhibition and participating artists and curators will be in Sydney for its opening here. Architypes will later travel to Tokyo and Singapore.

Initiated by the Emily Carr Institute, Vancouver, as a Pacific rim dialogue on domestic urban environments, the exhibition looks at how artists of varying cultural backgrounds perceive and define the impact of architecture on our private and public spaces.

Renee Van Halm's two and three-dimensional practice considers the evolution of modernist design and architecture. Her most recent work examines how houses have undergone modification by successive inhabitants. Elspeth Pratt's work examines the way architecture influences our fantasies of escape and fear: the two works in Architypes reference the sociological spaces of airports and pedestrian overpasses. Yuichi Higashionna uses domestic interior design materials, including textiles and florescent lights in his site-specific installations, while Kyoco Taniyama makes sculpture and installations based on architectural elements such as furniture and staircases. Memory and everyday life inform the work of both artists. Callum Morton's work cites historic and modernist architectural icons in contemporary re-readings of their cultural significance: Farnsworth House is transformed into a 7-11 store and Captain Cook's cottage becomes a theatre for bawdy narratives. Sally Smart's wall installation also draws on historical models, investigating the resonances and mnemonic impact of domestic architecture then and now.

The exhibition was made possible by the generous support of the Audain Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Japan/Canada Fund, a gift to the Canada Council for the Arts from the Government of Japan.

For further information, please contact Ivan Dougherty Gallery.