CULLINAN + RICHARDS: STRIPPERS

Submitted by Dina Verchomin on Wed, 2008-07-23 15:48
Friday, July 25, 2008 - 7:30pm - Sunday, September 21, 2008 - 10:00pm

OPENING RECEPTION Friday July 25 at 7:30pm

ARTIST TALK Saturday July 26 at 1pm

The Charles H. Scott Gallery is pleased to present Strippers, an exhibition by Charlotte Cullinan and Jeanine Richards. Strippers is curated by Cate Rimmer and is the London (UK)-based artists’ first solo exhibition in Canada.

“Symbolic and allegorical meaning is repeatedly implied in this work but may not amount to more than a fascination with the imagery of female recklessness and daring. But the proof of the work is not in its imagery; it’s in an endlessly inventive and heedless practice of making and transformation that overwhelms all reference.” —Barry Schwabsky, Artforum, May 2008

Cullinan + Richards make installations that address the specificity of the gallery site, making the supporting structure as relevant as the art object. The artists incorporate and build on a collection of elements that recur from one work to the next forming a system or language to address a range of themes. References to popular culture and personal history are abstracted and narratives emptied to construct situations where possibilities are opened up — for the artists themselves and for others.

In Strippers Cullinan + Richards negotiate a site between abstraction and figuration. Paintings based on Russ Meyer’s cult film Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) mark out possible roles for the artworks and establish scenarios in an attempt to disturb hierarchies of what artwork is supposed to be. The installation features text and paintings presented on paneled walls that function as physical dividers and mounts for the paintings as well as being sculptures in their own right. In this system, the paintings are supported and subtly undermined by their method of presentation. Further elements in the show include water fountains and sculptures that play with notions of figuration and monumentality.

From 1997–2006 the artists worked as Artlab and have exhibited widely internationally, including The Whitechapel Gallery, South London Gallery, Mobile Home Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art Seville, Daniel Spoerri Foundation, Italy, Whitstable Biennale, Kunstmuseum Lucerne Switzerland.

For further information please contact the gallery at 604.844.3809. Gallery Hours are 12 - 5 pm Weekdays and 10 am - 5 pm Weekends.

Admission is free.

Charles H. Scott Gallery / Emily Carr University of Art + Design, 1399 Johnston Street, Vancouver, BC phone 604.844.3809,