Lure
May 15, 2004 - July 11, 2004
Artist talk: Saturday May 15, 2004 at 2:00 p.m.
Opening reception: Saturday May 15, 2004 at 3:00 p.m.
Location: Art Gallery of Sudbury – Gallery 1 & 2
Originally from North Bay, Jeannie Thib had kept close ties to the
region and is represented by the Joan Ferneyhough Gallery in North Bay where
there is a concurrent exhibition Dissection continuing until May 27, 2004.
Those familiar with her work have seen a steady evolution of works
inspired by historical patterns. Her origin as a printmaker is evident in the
precision of the work’s sensitivity to materials and attention to historical
reference along with all of its social implications. Throughout history,
decorative patterns have reflected the relationship of society with nature.
Considering the form of these stylized motifs, Thib reworks and alters through
scale, medium and application in order to question our own contemporary
connection to the natural elements.
Historical pattern designs present a controlled symmetrical, repetitive
stylization of nature. Intended to adorn surfaces, to fill the empty spaces,
to comfort, they transform “wilderness” into palatable decoration. In Thib’s
work, the ordering impulse exemplified by these designs is thwarted. Through
strategies of magnification, fragmentation, distortion, isolation and reliance
on industrial materials, she reintroduces an undercurrent of fear and anxiety
associated with the “wild.”
Carolyn Bell Farrel, The Koffler Gallery
This past year, Jeannie Thib has shown her work in the following
exhibitions, Flourish Leo Kamen Gallery, Toronto; Artist’s Echo: Contemporary
Response to the Royal Ontario Museum’s Collection, Toronto; and DeLuxe at the
Kitchener/Waterloo Art Gallery, Lure, The Koffler Gallery, Toronto.
Thank you to FedNor for sponsoring this site
