Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
pamphlet series
volume 1 | number 1
february 22 - 26, 2015
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
Schedule Winter/Spring 2016
volume 1 | number 1
dates
artists
writers
February 22 – 26
Jannik Plaetner
Stephanie Turtle
Joshua Wade
February 29 – 24
Varvara Vinogradova
Patrick O’Reilly
Ashley Ridley
Garrison Berger
March 7 – 11
Leanne Munchinsky
Brianne Davis
Emily Kohlert
Candace Chickowski
March 14 – 18
Samra Sheikh
Cole Thompson
Pascal Dimnik
Qiming Sun
March 28 – April 1 Floranne St. Amand McLaughlin
Brandon Panasiuk
Amy Prive
Stephanie Simonot
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
pamphlet series
February 22 - 26, 2016
Director’s Message
Marcus Miller
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Joshua Wade - The Familiar and the Unfamiliar
Jannik Plaetner - Human Topology
by Stephanie Turtle
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Director’s Message
It is my pleasure to introduce this series of interpretive
essays accompanying the graduating exhibitions of
BFA candidates this year. Our writers reflect on the
work of 17 solo exhibitions, presented over six weeks
from February 22 – April 1, 2016. This is a new initiative
at the University of Saskatchewan that will no doubt
benefit all contributors as they enter professional life
and add discursive heft to their work.
I want to thank Brianne Jael Davis (B.A. Honours in Art
History, 2016) in particular, who suggested the idea of
a pamphlet series, worked hard to solicit writers and is
one of the writers herself.
Six pamphlets will be produced over six weeks and be
made available to the public during the exhibitions. At
the end of this cycle, photographic documentation and
artist’s material will be added to a compiled catalogue
and made available for a nominal cost.
Marcus Miller, Director
Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
1
Joshua Wade: The Familiar and Unfamiliar
Jannik Plaetner: Human Topology
February 22 - 26, 2016
by Stephanie Turtle
Joshua Wade’s exhibition Familiar & Unfamiliar,
transports the viewer towards an investigation of loosely
abstracted landscapes and illusionistic architectural
structures. Joshua’s work alludes to a sense of
something which is recognizable, yet establishes an
ambiguity by shifting scale, location, time and space
to something which is not so familiar. This abstracted
reality comes to life through the interplay of the
dark, sharp contrasting lines in juxtaposition with the
transparent layers and subtle atmospheric contours.
High-contrast monochromatic tonal values combined
with subtle hints of colour dominate these charcoal
drawings. While scale and location become enigmatic
in his work, Wade explores depth and transparency
in contrast to flat planes and impenetrable space. His
large drawings embrace a physicality, which reveal
traces of a spontaneous process of making through
experimentation by modifying and responding to the
work.
Wade’s prairie roots are evident for providing him
inspiration and reveal his influences in landscape
and abstraction. His experience working as a studio
assistant for Robert Christie has inevitably led to an
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understanding of the history of the influential
Emma Lake Workshops and and the roots of
Western Canadian abstract art. Wade’s interest in
incorporating architectural structures comes through
formal university training with artist and professor
Alison Norlen. His mentorship with printmaker Nik
Semenoff has also been a large influence in informing
an experimental approach that is visible in his working
process.
In Jannik Plaetner’s exhibition the artist introduces his
foundational concept: Human Topology, by combining
the science of topology with nude photography.
Through the use of mathematical formulas and
the intersection of projected light, he abstracts the
connectivity of the human form beyond a point of
recognition. The details of the human body become
lost and the viewer is drawn into experiencing the body
through its topological equivalent. The topological
shapes are the focus and become independent
objects within themselves in these large scale works.
The projected shapes coalesce with the various body
positions by using high-contrast, monochromatic
tonal values, which results in a playful exploration of
chance and abstraction.
Plaetner’s artistic influences are historically referenced
in the field of photography through the experimental
use of light on the nude form. French photographer
Lucien Clergue relied predominately on natural light
streaming through blinds. Another artist of interest of
his is German photographer Heinrich Heidersberger,
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who in the 1940’s worked with nudes and geometrical
shapes. Plaetner acknowledges the photographic
tradition with the use of black and white prints and his
experimental approach to light projection on the nude
form. He incorporates these traditional techniques,
yet transforms them into something new through the
application of topology and the utilization of recent
technological advances of digital photography.
Joshua Wade’s Familiar & Unfamiliar and Jannik
Plaetner’s Human Topology exhibitions complement
each other in the gallery and incorporate similar themes
in their conversation with one another. These bodies of
work relate in their large scale abstractions and their
use of high-contrast, monochromatic palettes. Both
artists also employ an experimental creative process
which embraces the opportunity for chance, allowing
auspicious moments to occur within their work. Reality
becomes vulnerable, ambiguous and blurred in
order to transport the viewer, through their utilization
of abstract form. Although different mediums and
techniques are employed by the two artists, there is a
cohesiveness in their exhibitions that compliment the
work of the other.
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Gordon Snelgrove Gallery
Department of Art & Art History
University of Saskatchewan
191 Murray Building
3 Campus Drive
Saskatoon SK S7N 5A4
306-966-4208
www.usask.ca/snelgrove
snelgrovegallery@gmail.com
twitter: @gordonsnelgrove
instagram: @snelgrovegallery