{"id":2281,"date":"2011-08-01T18:47:56","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T18:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=2281"},"modified":"2011-08-21T20:08:38","modified_gmt":"2011-08-21T20:08:38","slug":"dont-stop-believing-by-kevin-schmidt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/?p=2281","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Stop Believing by Kevin Schmidt"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Kevin Schmidt, Epic Journey<\/em>, 2010. Single channel HD video with stereo sound, 11hr 30min. Courtesy of Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver<\/p>\n

June 8\u00a0– August 20, 2011<\/span><\/strong>
\nJustina M Barnicke Gallery<\/span><\/strong>
\n(Hart House), University of Toronto
\n7 Hart House Circle. <\/span>
\nToronto, Ontario M5S 3H3<\/span>
\nT: 416-978-8398 <\/span>
\nHours: <\/span>Mon-Wed & Fri 11-5,<\/span><\/span>Thur 11-7,<\/span>Sat-Sun 1-5 pm <\/span><\/p>\n

Curated by Barbara Fischer<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Including several recent conceptual and cinematic installations, the exhibition offers a concise introduction to Schmidt\u2019s ongoing interests. In particular, the exhibition brings together works that share the tropes of the solitary epic quest as narrated in popular science fiction, spiritual discovery, scientific expedition, and music.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kevin Schmidt first came to international attention with his single-channel 2002 video work \u201cLong Beach Led Zep\u201d featuring the artist\u2019s studied solo guitar performance of Led Zeppelin\u2019s \u201cStairway to Heaven\u201d staged against the setting sun of Vancouver Island\u2019s mythic Long Beach. Since then, the combination of sublime settings and heroic, DIY or amateur quests have been a recurrent element in his installations, such as in the works in this exhibition. Taking their point of departure in a wide array of generation-defining cultural referents and re-enactments \u2013 Tolkien\u2019s famed trilogy \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d, the song” Angel of Light” by the Rock group Petra, as well as expeditions such as Franklin\u2019s failed search for the Northwest Passage, among others \u2013 Schmidt\u2019s interests in the epic quest expresses the desire to go beyond the limits of knowledge and to chart the more ethereal territories of other non-rational worlds.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the expression of this desire often finds form in manufactured spectacle or sublime nature, Kevin Schmidt\u2019s appropriations and enactments of these are tempered by skepticism. His work counters the traps of blind acceptance using the visible reminders of handy-man construction and theatrical devices \u2013 smoke machines, generators, stage lights and even a DIY video projector \u2013 all the while seeking to produce experiences that exceed common cause or practical reason. Adapting the title of the American rock band Journey\u2019s 1981 hit single, \u201cDon\u2019t stop believin’ \u201d for the exhibition, Schmidt\u2019s interest in the classic, modern tension between doubt and faith appears as a constant balancing act in his works. Particularly, the artist\u2019s work suggests that this productive pulse inheres in the very purpose and possibility of art as it constantly reconsiders conviction while critically reflecting on the apocalyptic proclamations of religion, the manufactured seductions of spectacle, or the romance of scientific expeditions\u2019 search for the truth. <\/span><\/p>\n

The exhibitions and programs of the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery are generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. The Gallery is wheelchair accessible<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 8 – August 20, 2011<\/strong>
\nSpecial Screening August 3 9:30 am – 9:00 pm<\/p>\n

Justina M Barnicke Gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n

If the expression of this desire often finds form in manufactured spectacle or sublime nature, Kevin Schmidt\u2019s appropriations and enactments of these are tempered by skepticism. <\/p>\n

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