Installation view. Photo: Courtesy of Clint Roenisch Gallery
Exposed silkscreens, deflated basketballs, unstretched raw canvases and other objects found by Niall McClelland in his solo show Hot Sauce filled the Clint Roenisch Gallery at the Opening Reception on January 22nd, 2015.
Installation view. Photo: Courtesy of Clint Roenisch Gallery
The first objects seen upon entering, are the exposed silkscreens baring snarky anecdotes about yuppies, punk logos, and Kurt Cobain’s suicide note, mounted on the wall. McClelland successfully recontextualized the screen from being a tool in making accessible, and sometimes punk art, into fine art in a commercial gallery setting.
“A.S.S.S.M.T.T – No More Prisons”, 2015, silkscreen mesh, photo emulsion, aluminum frame, 39 x 32 inches, unique. Photo: Courtesy of Clint Roenisch Gallery
Deflated basketballs are dispersed on the floor, inside the corner facing the silkscreens. They resembled caved in nests for water and random garbage, simulating wind and rain, as if the wind came in through the front entrance, and the balls ended up in that corner. Above the basketballs, a found handwritten note states;
TO THE 2 ‘LADIES’
WHO CLIMBED THIS ->
FENCE TO STEAL
MY CEDARROPE, I
HOPE YOU ENJOY IT,
YOU CAN DROP OFF THE
$40.00 IN THE MAIL SLOT
OR THE COPS GET THE VIDEO.
“Never had the Height”, 2015, basketballs, melted ice, leaves, dirt, cigarettes, coins, receipts, champagne cork, dimensions variable. Photo: Courtesy of Clint Roenisch Gallery
McClelland explained that he came across the balls and the note in a courtyard by his west end studio. He collected each ball at different occasions. By presenting them at the same time, he compressed the evidence of time into one space. The ephemeral note was posted on a white wall, and changed the environment by forcing the viewer to look around for the fence, and believe that it was meant to be posted on the same fence that punctured the basketballs as the wind swept them against the sharp wires. Leading the viewer to question who the players were, who the ladies were, and who posted the note.
Visitor with “Teenage Poetry (quadtych)”, 2014, silkscreen mesh, photo emulsion, aluminum frames, 240 x 60 inches, unique. Photo: Tetyana Herych
In the second large room, five massive unstretched and raw canvases hang in a line. Each one bear a rough and beautiful random composition with minimal colours of pink and variations of gray, reminiscent of a moon close up, and a colourfield painting. McClelland achieved this result by laying out the canvases on his studio’s concrete floor, rolling paint on them, and letting the paint bleed through each canvas, agitating the concrete beneath, and letting it stain the canvas. Peeling the canvas off also meant stripping a layer off the floor with it. Each layer represents a different time and occasion that occurred in his studio. Designed by chance, the imperfections dictate the appearance. The accident of creating the work is the art itself.
Installation view. Photo: Courtesy of Clint Roenisch Gallery
“Martyrs Without Causes”, 2014, mixed media on canvas, 105 x 70 inches. Photo: Courtesy of Clint Roenisch Gallery
On the facing wall, a dilapidated striped red, white and blue net hangs, in place of a basketball net. In Roenisch’s kitchen, basketball highlights run in digital videos and American streetball legend, Hot Sauce, plays.
“EBA Panthers – ’97/98 Champs”, 2011, stolen basketball net, dimensions variable. Photo: Tetyana Herych
Hot Sauce – “Highlight Reel” (installation view), digital video, found footage, 66 minutes 23 seconds. Photo: Courtesy of Clint Roenisch Gallery
McClelland ties the found object, basketball, and destructive theme back together. A modern, and more minimal approach to Dadaist ready mades, revealing the evidence of a person’s presence, through the human touch and process. The exhibition is eerie, and full of surprising objects.
Tetyana Herych
*Exhibition information: January 22 – February 28, 2015, Clint Roenich Gallery, 190 Saint Helens Avenue, Toronto.