EVAN PENNY: THE VENETIAN MIRROR     

TrépanierBaer Gallery 
February 4 - March 4

TrépanierBaer Gallery is pleased announce its participation in the 2023 Exposure Photography Festival with three exhibitions: Barbara Steinman: Keeping Time, Geoffrey James: Trees, and Evan Penny: The Venetian Mirror. While distinct in their respective representations, these photographic bodies of work share concerns regarding the poetics of space, time, and memory, and how they are translated and expressed via the genre of photography. All of the works on view are replete in both the visual and philosophical senses, and should not be missed! 

A series of small, intimate photographs by Evan Penny from his Venetian Mirror series are inspired by the body of work produced for his 2017 exhibition in Venice. Referring to the archaic Greek myth of the flaying of Marsyas by the god Apollo, these photographs imagine the moment when Marsyas, gazing upon his flayed skin, asks: “Why do you peel me from myself?”

Taken with a cellphone camera, these images capture the reflection of Marsyas, a figurative sculpture of the mythical creature referenced above, in the reflective and fragmented surface of another sculpture titled Venetian (body) Mirror, this one made of gold plated cast bronze. The result is a unique asymmetrical kaleidoscopic pattern that underscores the notion of representation and re-presentation, and the fluidity between both concepts. Here, Penny endeavours to connect that hallucinogenic moment to our contemporary relationship with photography and the de-stabilizing and disembodying effects of selfie culture.

Open: Tue - Sat: 11:00 - 17:00
Access: Location is wheelchair accessible. Exhibition is child friendly.
For more information see trepanierbaer.com

TrépanierBaer Gallery, 999 - 8 St SW, Suite 105, Calgary AB T2R 1J5