Shelley Ouellet
Johnston's Falls
5th September - 17 October, 2009
Globe City,
4th Floor, Curtis Mayfield House, Carliol Square,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 6UQ
Johnston’s Falls is a new addition to Ouellet’s Wish You Were Here... series that digitally manipulated and recreated, bead-by-bead, three iconic nineteenth century Canadian landscape paintings. Unlike the original three works, Johnston's Falls is based on a contemporary image of this majestic waterfall set in the now tamed and heavily marketed modern day wilderness. Like Lake Louise, Niagara Falls and the Saguenay River, Johnston's Canyon is part of Canada’s burgeoning tourist industry, supporting local economies and reinforcing concepts of national identity.
The work also offers a more formal investigation of materials; the image of the falls intricately recreated using more than 46,000 plastic beads. ‘Meant for an audience an ocean away’, Johnston's Falls is designed to be displayed overseas to show-off the beautiful Canadian landscape in a similar way to the paintings of Church, Bell-Smith and O'Brien.
Exhibition Dates:
Wednesday 9th September to Saturday 17th October 2009
Thanks
Aurora Landin, Ken Buera, Cathy Ott, Gavin Simmonds, Jason E. Bowman, Bill and Judy Ouellet
Rashida Davison and her family, the volunteers and staff of the Globe Gallery. Installation team: James Adair, Jen Almond, Thomas Brumby, Esther Laverick, Antonia Lister, Rachel Maloney, Lauren Spoors and Joss Wrigg.