No Language In Our Cheungs | Chrissy Cheung hopes her drawing “Balance One” speaks for itself at ArtsHab’s A Drawing Exhibition About Balance.
This week, Jill and Mandy mosey over to ArtsHab Studio Gallery to check out A Drawing Exhibition About Balance, which features a variety of work by Craig Talbot and Chrissy Cheung. Did the show upset their equilibrium? Let’s find out.
Mandy: This was a very different show than the print exhibition we took in last week. What was your impression?
Jill: Ha ha—that’s an understatement. Talbot and Cheung’s work both have a strong element of the naïve running through them, not an adjective I would use to describe the Japanese woodblock prints. This show is mostly detailed little drawings upon paper, some with text, some without, and all focusing on balance as a compositional tool and challenge.
Mandy: I think they used the space well. Having Talbot’s brightly coloured tiny box assemblages resting precariously near the ground makes the vibe very fragile. The kind of instillation approach they took seemed to tie in with that naïve quality you mentioned. Drawings are pinned up all over the walls, not necessarily in your “classic” gallery style, but in a more intuitive arrangement.
Jill: Okay, I have a pet peeve with people who put all the effort in the world into their images, painstakingly poring over them, calculating every mark they make on the surface, and then, when they are satisfied and are looking to put it up on the wall, make absolutely zero consideration as to the presentation. These works were mostly installed by placing black one-inch butterfly clips on the corners of each of the pieces, and then taping the clips to the wall. This extremely juvenile and unconsidered method of hanging completely obliterates any power the drawings might otherwise have had. This is especially true of the drawings that were meant to incorporate white space as a main element in the image; the black squares of metal just completely overpower them. These drawings had the potential to really impress me—and they did to a certain extent—but the method of hanging subconsciously convinces the viewer that the artist is not internally serious enough about their work to get it properly framed or matted or installed in any way besides a pack of bulldog clips from the top drawer of their computer desk. I don’t know—maybe I’m a jerk! What do you think?
Mandy: I think you’re someone who takes presentation very seriously. Which is okay; a lot of people would agree with you here. You kind of completely control how a viewer sees your work with how you present it. The thing about this show is that it is clearly dealing with experimental ideas—in the imagery, in the media, and in the installation. I wasn’t as thrown off by what I took as an open comment on the temporary reality of an exhibition. You immediately assume that no thought was put into how the work was displayed, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. I think perhaps there was intentional questioning of what we think of as “correct’ presentation”—which was paralleled in the actual work. I saw Talbot and Cheung as confronting the “correct” image.
Jill: Still, if there was a questioning, you have to agree that the way that the works were presented wasn’t ideal. I even wished that they were just mounted to the wall, without any sort of clip or tape or anything. I worry that people will not take the work as seriously as they should because of the combination of “naïve” imagery and “naïve” hanging.
Mandy: Well, what about the drawings themselves, then? There’s a big aesthetic difference between Talbot and Cheung. I found that Cheung’s monochromatic drawings were formally solid; the installation helped them become more interactive. They had this intricate, dense line vibrating all over. Whereas Talbot’s drawings had a quality of expression that I enjoyed. They are playful and open, but still contain an element of malice that gives them a tension you don’t outright expect.
Jill: They sort of played off each other. It spoke towards a kind of unspoken collaboration. Some of Cheung’s drawings were just magical, looking like strange, imperfect little crystalline structures in black and white. I liked that one drawing of Talbot’s that was about the animals forming their own language. I am a big fan of text in images as long as it works well; in this case, I think these guys know what they’re doing.
Mandy: Ah yes—the animals were kind of wonderful. I was glad to see some work that had a bit of humour. ArtsHab delivered a powerful trio of darts, dogs, and drawings. You can’t deny that’s magic.
Jill: Too bad nobody will know what you mean by “darts and dogs”!
Mandy: They’ll just have to go to find out, I guess.
A Drawing Exhibition About Balance runs until July 2 at ArtsHab Studio Gallery (10217-106 St).
