Constructing contemporary mythology
Excerpts from the work of Tom Dean appear at two Alberta galleries
EXHIBIT REVIEW
TOM DEAN
Photographs, Prints, Sculpture, Video
Runs until April 6
Newzones Gallery
TOM DEAN
The Floating Staircase
Runs until May 3
Trianon Gallery, Lethbridge
In 1978, artist Tom Dean built a set of stairs which sat on Lake Ontario for more than three years. It was an enormous physical structure, with a base measuring 676 square feet, but more than anything else its proportions were mythic.
It was a symbol with contradictory associations. Tethered within sight of the Toronto skyline, its climbing steps must have formed an interesting relationship with the city's skyscrapers. Floating on calm, flat water, some thought that it represented human dominance over nature. Pitching on the rough whitecaps of the lake, it seemed to illustrate the ultimate folly of that dominance. But maybe the stairway was hope, an escape route from the turmoil below.
Over time, the technical challenges and the expense of the structure's maintenance became too much for the artist, so he set it on fire, still floating on the surface of the water, like a funeral pyre.
Its charred, skeletal remains were salvaged and displayed in a Toronto gallery along with photo and video documentation of the project. Then the fragments were packed into crates and donated to the University of Lethbridge – where the Trianon Gallery is currently displaying the newly restored artifacts.
Floating Staircase (1978-1983) is Dean's most well-known piece – a monumental project that encompasses the theme of his career. The artist has consistently worked to create contemporary symbols that aspire to grand spiritual and philosophical narratives.
These symbols take visually disparate forms. In another exhibit, Tom Dean: Photos, Prints, Sculpture, Video, currently on display at Newzones Gallery of Contemporary Art, there are new prints that document Dean's early 1970s performance work and The Floating Staircase. Recent work includes sculptures from the series Untitled (Babies), a nightmare landscape of parenthood where helpless, damaged infants litter the floor. On the opposite side of the gallery, 10 bold, brightly coloured prints depict the Bible's familiar Commandments on a background of polka-dots borrowed from the (more universally familiar?) Wonderbread bag. References to pop culture, history and mythology exist together.
The exhibition can't be called a survey, or even a primer for Dean's work. It's a small collection of pieces that brings together projects from either end of a career that spans more than 30 years. Even this small sample of the artist's work incorporates such a wide range of elements that it hints at the scope of the rest of his practice. Just enough to leave you wanting more. |
