{"id":7706,"date":"2012-02-20T17:24:41","date_gmt":"2012-02-20T22:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=7706"},"modified":"2012-04-01T13:28:37","modified_gmt":"2012-04-01T17:28:37","slug":"erik-waterkotte-invocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/?p=7706","title":{"rendered":"Erik Waterkotte: Invocation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

February 24 \u2013 March 31, 2012<\/strong>
\nOpening: Friday, February 24, 2012, 6:30-8:30 pm
\nOpen Studio Gallery
\n<\/strong>401 Richmond Street West, Suite 104
\nToronto ON,\u00a0 M5V 3A8
\nT: 416.504.8238
\nE:\u00a0sara@openstudio.on.ca<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.openstudio.on.ca<\/a><\/p>\n

Open Studio is pleased to present Invocation<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/em>, an exhibition by Mankato, MN <\/span>based artist, Erik Waterkotte from February 24 \u2013 March 31, 2012. The exhibition is accompanied by a text by Minneapolis, MN based writer Brandon Cooke.<\/p>\n

Invocation is a word that connotes magic. It can be a prayer of entreaty or a formula for conjuring, or even a petition <\/span>for help. Erik Waterkotte\u2019s work is an exploration of popular culture, myth and fantasy as conveyed through print and mixed media. He is drawn to ideas and events in popular culture that blur the line between fantasy and reality, finding that these ideas and related imagery act as illustrations for the cultural fragmentation of contemporary society.<\/p>\n

Waterkotte\u2019s recent work alludes to fantastic, magical, and mystical spaces. Juxtaposed and submerged in the work are images from the films Woodstock <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/em>and <\/span><\/span>Gimme Shelter<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/em>, heavy metal album art, the Mormon Tabernacle, alchemical <\/span>symbolism and ancient ruins. Using appropriation, collage, mixed print media, digital applications and video projection, Waterkotte creates layered imagery that both elucidates and obscures. According to Cooke in the accompanying essay, the sensuousness of Waterkotte\u2019s works draws viewers in before it is quite realized what we are seeing.<\/p>\n

Working with collage and printmaking, layering imagery and media, Watterkotte references architectural spaces and landscapes. He sees collage as an act of destruction, building, distortion and reduction. Distortion and reduction are key to his process \u2014 he wants the viewer to experience imagery that is temporal, shifting and could easily be peeled apart. Waterkotte is interested in creating works that reference the beauty and terror of the sublime, that walk the line between representation and abstraction, form and formless.<\/p>\n

Erik Waterkotte received his MFA from the University of Alberta and his BFA from Illinois State University. He has shown in many group exhibitions internationally, including THENOW Contemporary Prints\/Historical Perspectives <\/span><\/em>(University of Minnesota), the Hong Kong Graphic Arts Festival <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/em>(Hong Kong City Hall),\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>(S)edition, Prints as Activism <\/span><\/em>(Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids MI), the 2009 China Sanbao International Printmaking Exhibition<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/em>, <\/span>and the Edmonton Print International\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/em>(SNAP Gallery). Recent solo exhibitions took place at Saltgrass Printmakers <\/span>(Salt Lake City, UT, the Printmaker\u2019s Gallery (Arkansas State University) and Hemingway Gallery (Boise State University, ID). His work is included in several university collections and he has participated in numerous print portfolios and residencies. He is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Art at Minnesota State University.<\/p>\n

\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

February 24 \u2013 March 31, 2012<\/strong>
\nOpening: Friday, February 24, 2012, 6:30-8:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

OPEN STUDIO GALLERY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Erik Waterkotte\u2019s work is an exploration of popular culture, myth and fantasy as conveyed through print and mixed media.<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7697,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-listings_archive","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7706"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7710,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7706\/revisions\/7710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}