Carl White: I dreamed a universe!
March 4, 2021 - May 30, 2021
In I dreamed a universe! Carl White speaks on the role of imperfection in art and life signaling to another universe; a reflection on what’s beneath the surface. The exhibition questions the value of art history, its relevance, and relationship to contemporary culture by taking on a dual role of creator and destroyer. Through this, White aims on finding balance and meaning in the making and letting go of an art object. In his exploration of painting and mythology, White presents a new perspective of art history in contemporary society.
This exhibition invites us to contemplate on how we live our lives through the process of making and destroying. Ideas of time, change, and movement can be interpreted within the artworks as White explores what it means to be an artist. The journey itself is the process of continuous change and perhaps what matters most. Just as a snake sheds its skin and starts a new, White leaves previous skin behind, then moves on to create another art piece, and another experience. Resembling the cycle of life in the act of creating and destroying, Carl White views his artistic process as a shared human experience.
Carl White was born in Liverpool, England in 1969. He Studied at the Alberta College of Art & Design from 1989-1992 in Calgary, Alberta. His paintings and drawings have been featured in many solo and group exhibitions across Canada since 1992 and reside in numerous private collections nationally and internationally. White currently lives and works in Calgary, Alberta where he divides his time between teaching and studio work.
Carl White: I dreamed a universe! Reinvents the idea of art making as the artist examines his process and need to create. This exhibition explores the journey of the art making process from inspiration and idea development, to questioning artistic decisions along the way. The discernable evolution of that process and transformation is key to White’s creative practice as he explores ideas of time and change.
White uniquely makes a ‘work of art’ by damaging it, and therefore creates questions about the notion of ‘high art’ and its placement and purpose in our contemporary world. In this exhibition we question the ways in which art as a language influences thoughts and actions, and by extension the discourses in how we interpret works of art through their physical forms, and contextual meanings.
Carl White questions what it is to be an artist, why make art, and for who. Today, these questions are essential in understanding the role of art in our lives, our actions, and our behaviors towards it. This may shine a light on our own experiences, our education, and our memories through the usage of both historical references and contemporary approaches. By the overlapping of process, creation, and destruction, we could realize collectively that the journey itself is the product of understanding contemporary life and art.
