The allure of the forest, with its intermingling of flora and fauna and perpetually enigmatic qualities, has inspired the canvases of artists across centuries, including late-nineteenth century figureheads Monet and Cézanne. The humility and diverse natural colour palette, coupled alongside associations with idyllic serenity, have imbued the forest with an otherworldly image as a refuge from humanly concerns. Steve Driscoll’s Just a Sliver of the Room, the artist’s recent solo show at Angell Gallery, transforms his exhibition space into a hypnagogic wooded landscape, transcending the objective empirical world into a more fantastical place.
Installation view of Steve Driscoll, Just a Sliver of the Room with Recovered Shore. Image courtesy of Angell Gallery
Driscoll’s ambitious vision reconfigures the gallery by installing a winding wooden pathway surrounded by an eerily reflective black mass of water. The artist’s monumental paintings line the walls around this microcosmic lake, allowing their fauvist colour palette and semi-abstract rendering of trees to faintly illuminate the encompassing opacity. The 40-foot centerpiece “Recovered Shore” (2016), rendered in a playful combination of brilliant hues, commands the viewers’ attention while also heightening their perception of the work and its relation to its surrounding environment. Furthermore, upon closer inspection, the surfaces of his works mimic the reflective and abstracting qualities of water, aesthetically bridging together two chief elements within the exhibition.
Just a Sliver of the Room creates a phenomenological space that plays with the viewers’ perceptive capacities. Slight ripples in the body of water simultaneously alter and enhance the static images on display, creating a holistically dynamic experience. As standalone paintings, Driscoll’s work resonates; however, incorporated within this one-of-a-kind installation, the artist’s efforts rise above their physical and optical properties into a lively occurrence.
Driscoll’s efforts to reconstruct a traditional gallery visit exceed standardized photographic documentation. Much like performance art and Richard Serra’s immense sculptural configurations, this installation demands to be witnessed physically in order to grasp the subtleties and transformative qualities in its entirety. The most purposeful images produced around this exhibition are located in the print publication that supplements the exhibition, as it records the lengthy and complex manifestation of Driscoll’s grand idea. Throughout Just a Sliver of the Room, the artist challenges the widespread impression that a contemporary gallery acts as a passive repository for current art, by constructing an active domain for progressive thought.
David Saric
*Exhibition information: April 29 – May 28, 2016, Angell Gallery, 1444 Dupont St., Unit 15 (Entrance off Campbell Ave.). Gallery hours: Wed – Sat: 12 – 6 p.m.