Bridges connect; they balance; they suspend.
The New Westminster New Media Gallery is exploring the artistic possibilities of the bridge in its new exhibition, BRIDGE, running May 20 to July 16 at the gallery. An opening reception is set for Friday, May 19 from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
The show features three works: Stairwell, by Vancouver artists Josh Hite and Scott Billings; Acoustical Visions of the Golden Gate Bridge, by American artist Bill Fontana; and Drive, by artist Willie Doherty of Northern Ireland.
“Over time bridges have taught us tension, compression, suspension, balance and connection. At some point the bridge became a powerful metaphor, exemplifying the search for connectivity in both the physical and metaphysical worlds and through the realm of imagination,” says a press release about the show. “In this exhibition our relationship with the notion of a bridge is embodied first through physical experience; the sensational and sensory aspects of these works are rooted in vivid (re)enactments of structure, light and sound.”
Sarah Joyce, director-curator of the gallery, is pleased to be featuring the work of local artists in this exhibition, with Hite and Billings’ Stairwell.
“We’re very excited that we have found a way to present it,” she said in an email. “We first saw it last year and knew immediately we wanted to show it. It’s a big, complex work in terms of how it is installed and how it works. We know people will love it.”
The work was filmed inside a hidden stairwell within the Burrard Bridge, documenting a forgotten space.
“Drifting between surveillance and cinema, the dollying camera stirs up fleeting moments of narrative and reveals the trace of those who left their marks after its permanent closure in 1932.”
Joyce added the gallery is also thrilled to be showing work by two pioneering international artists.
Fontana is known internationally for his pioneering experiments in sound art, and his work has been seen around the world.
Doherty, meanwhile, first came to prominence in the 1980s with work that explored the complexities of living in a divided community during “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland.
Everyone is welcome to the opening reception. Admission is free, and there will be a cash bar.
The New Media Gallery is on the third floor at Anvil Centre, 777 Columbia St. See www.newmediagallery.ca for information
