Alex Morrison: Politics and Partnership
Alex Morrison Untitled 2009 Courtesy Catriona Jeffries Gallery
Vancouver artist Alex Morrison broke onto the scene in the late 1990s with drawings of discarded houses and videos of casually destructive skateboarders. These works may seem different from Morrison’s newer art—like politically pointed photos of protest recreations, or monument proposals for 1970s-kitsch dissidents.
But what remains remarkably consistent in Morrison’s art is an interest in subcultures of rebellion, as well as their eventual integration into (or appropriation by) mainstream architectures of power.
Now, a Morrison solo show at CSA Space in Vancouver refracts his practice through the lens of exhibition curator (and fellow artist) Brad Phillips.
Like Morrison, Phillips has long had an interest in rebellious, youthfully disaffected people, as well as the places they haunt. But unlike Morrison, Phillips tends to a painterly approach that draws on dark humour, literature and figuration to make its point.
The pairing of these two mirrored talents in one space most certainly generates sufficient intrigue for a drop-by—be it by scurrilous skateboard or psychologically fraught family sedan. (5-2414 Main St, Vancouver BC)
Alex Morrison Wilding 2008 Courtesy Catriona Jeffries Gallery
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