Robert Waters: The Agony and the Ecstasy
Robert Waters Facial Expression Study for the Ecstasy of St. Sebastian 2011 Courtesy p|m Gallery
Time inevitably incites changes in the structure and perception of our relationship with society. Robert Waters’ corpus of work is specifically concerned with the investigation of societal, religious and political changes; he has exhibited in Spain, Mexico and Japan as well as in Canada.
“Malefactor” was Waters’ provocative recent Toronto exhibition, in which he poetically juxtaposed the controversial themes of religion, violence and sexuality. The p|m Gallery space was converted into an arena of negotiation; the themes explored in “Malefactor” resonated in the vulnerable threads of our social fabric. Although controversial in content, “Malefactor” astutely deflected the counter-arguments which accompany politically fuelled art practices; Waters’ methodological approach is securely enveloped in creating art that is unabashedly self-conscious and reflective of its commentary.
Made in a self-referential fashion, The Ecstasy of St. Sebastian is a modular structure of gilded arrows, evoking those which martyred St. Sebastian. Delicate threads hang from the arrows, their fragility mirroring our precarious relationship with the establishment of institutional and belief systems.
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Robert Waters The Ecstasy of St. Sebastian 2010–1 Courtesy p|m Gallery |
One couldn’t help but feel intrigued by the conflictive juxtaposition of Waters’ What You Can’t See, a technically impressive series of cut-paper studies of Christ’s loincloths in masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance, and I am the Wave, the Particle, the Light, an usual projection of a rarely encountered digitally animated nude Christ. Upon closer examination, a relationship is revealed: Christ’s duality as an earthly and divine being is accompanied by the inherent separation of sexuality from divinity.
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Robert Waters What You Can’t See 2009 Installation view Courtesy p|m Gallery |
Waters has a critical and multi-faceted methodology. During a recent period of living in Mexico, Waters developed a conceptual-art workshop for the blind, an ongoing project that is currently being undertaken by various organizations and museums. Art is a visual medium; its inception inevitably excludes all audiences that cannot engage with its visual parameters. In this project, blind students are introduced to conceptual art through the use of audio guides, drawing exercises and touching exercises to familiarize themselves with iconic objects such as Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain. In uncover RECOVER, Waters gained a permit in Spain (where he’s currently based) to collect soil from the mass graves of the Spanish Civil War. The soil was used to grow plants that evoked the collective memory of that war; the regenerative element of plants symbolized the rebirth and evolution of Spain from its political stance as an oppressive dictatorship to its current state as a democracy.
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