Photo: Tara Nicholson

Curated by Candice Hopkins and Rob Blackson

Knew Urk
combines elements of painting, assemblage, sculpture, and works in
stone. Since returning to Europe in 1994 from Mexico, Durham has
concentrated on European culture of architecture and belief. Throughout
his forty-year career, Durham has advocated that, “…the purpose of
art is to help people interpret their world so that they may be better
able to change it in positive ways.” Rather than relying on the
mythology of the artists as “creator,” Durham appreciates the role of
the artist as one who rearranges objects that exist in society,
implying a direct relationship between social and artistic processes. 

This
exhibition challenges what the artist describes as the “heavy, laden
metaphors” attached to stone and its European history. Stone has played
a significant role in Durham’s artistic practice over the past decade.
In his practice stone is metaphoric; it stands for all things
structured: architecture, monumentality, and belief. 

Jimmie
Durham is a Washington born and Berlin-based artist, writer, and
activist. His distinct and critical voice is spiked by puns, poetry,
and political invective. Durham, of Cherokee heritage, was active in
the American Indian Movement throughout the 1970s and in the early
1980s. His work has been exhibited widely at venues including the
Venice Biennale, Whitney Biennial, Documenta, DAAD Gallery, Berlin, and
the Institute of Contemporary Art, London. This exhibition is organized
by the Walter Phillips Gallery, The Banff Centre with the Reg Vardy
Gallery, University of Sunderland, U.K. 

Knew Urk is Jimmie Durham’s first solo exhibition in Canada and his first solo exhibition in North America in over a decade.

The
Western Front gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council
for the Arts, the BC Arts Council through the Government of British
Columbia, the City of Vancouver, and our members and volunteers. The
Western Front is a member of the Pacific Association of Artist-Run
Centres (PAARC).