PNTG-316

Damian Moppett’s artistic practice uses a wide variety of media to question existing notions of mastery, craftsmanship and value. Drawing on broad references from the history of modern art, Moppett uses the mediums of sculpture, painting, photography, drawing and video, often in relationship to each other, as a meditation on the activity of making art. Much of Moppett’s recent work blurs the boundaries between mediums in an effort to force, for example, sculpture to act more like a two-dimensional painting or visa versa. The role of tradition in art is questioned while historical precedents are exposed, played with and enveloped in the gestures that evolve out of a studio practice.

Damian Moppett received his MFA from Concordia University in 1995 and his BFA from Emily Carr College of Art + Design in 1992. He has exhibited in Canada and internationally, including recent two-person shows at the National Gallery of Canada and Art Gallery of Alberta, with Ron Moppett (2016/2017), and the following recent solo exhibitions: The Bells, Simon Fraser University Gallery, Burnaby (2014); Vancouver Art Gallery Off-site (2012); Rennie Collection at Wing Sang, Vancouver (2011); The Sculptor’s Studio is a Painting, Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver (2010); Yvon Lambert, Paris (2007); Temple Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia (2007); Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa (2006); The Visible Work, Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (2005). Moppett has also been included in numerous group exhibitions, including Shine a Light, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2014); Not Photographs, Presentation House Gallery Satellite, Vancouver (2011); Everything Everyday, Vancouver Art Gallery (2010); Don Quijote, Witte de With, Rotterdam, The Netherlands (2006); A Tribute to Cezanne, Yvon Lambert, New York (2006); Intertidal: Vancouver Art and Artists, Museum Van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium (2005); The Cave and the Island, White Columns, New York; Galerie Kunstbuero, Vienna (2004); Bounce, Power Plant, Toronto (2002); Hammertown, Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland (2002). He is represented by Catriona Jeffries: www.catrionajeffries.com.

The world is full of potential obstacles and limitations to the flow and movement of life. The logic of Late-capitalism is no exception. To navigate a particular environment, plants and animals (both human and non-human) need many complex attributes. Animals for instance, require muscular intelligence, mental processes such as self-awareness and awareness of others, as well as the ability to respond to our surroundings. This includes creativity and imagination (Art). Even at its most instinctive level, behaviour shows these capacities and potentials. Otherwise, life in any form would not be able to survive in unpredictable and precarious situations.

Jesse Garbe’s work investigates our relationship with nature. It puts forward the idea that paintings, diagrams, taxidermy and other visual aids play a significant role in how we understand animals, plants and their habitats.

He is also an avid bird watcher, citizen scientist and general advocate of the ornithological.