Tim Lee in Vancouver
Tim Lee, The Pink Panther, 2049 (detail), 2007–08 Courtesy Cohan & Leslie, New York/Lisson Gallery, London
In the exhibition “Remakes, Variations (1741-2049),” the Vancouver artist Tim Lee casts himself as lead player in a pair of new works that mine the seemingly disparate fields of slapstick humour, classical music and photo-conceptual art. In Aria: Goldberg Variations, Johann Sebastian Bach, 1742 (Glenn Gould, 1981) a two-channel video shows Lee’s hands “playing” Gould’s famously condensed interpretation of the Bach compositions. Although the hands seem to be moving along the keys in time to the music, upon closer inspection it is clear that Lee is not actually playing the piano. By subtly removing any consideration of technical skill Lee prioritizes performance, shifting the impact of the work from an aural experience to a visual one. The Pink Panther, 2049 similarly references the act of impersonation in grainy photographs that show the reflection of the artist taking a self-portrait. Setting the date of the project in 2049, Lee alludes to Peter Seller’s comic role as Inspector Clousseau, as well as Steve Martin’s reprisal of it forty-three years later, but also to a yet un-made remake of the film. In establishing a potentially infinite time scale, Lee questions the longevity and relevance of the original, positioning the remake in an awkward space between sincere homage and self-referential narcissism. To January 13. (Presentation House Gallery, 333 Chesterfield Ave., North Vancouver, BC.)
Installation view of Tim Lee’s The Pink Panther, 2049, 2007–08, at Presentation House Gallery Courtesy Cohan & Leslie, New York/Lisson Gallery, London
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