Cliff Evans: Empyrean
November 9, 2007 – January 13, 2008
Cliff Evans treats images like found objects, mined from the vast reference library that is today’s Internet. His exhibition Empyrean is a digital polyptych with photomontage animation which recalls the form of 15th-century Northern European altar-pieces merged with contemporary advertising narratives.
Scene after scene of Evans’s five-channel projection has deliberate order and disquieting disorder, creating a loose but provocative narrative around the subjects of power and population control, coded with interesting and often humorous subtexts. Empyrean’s themes are developed through an absurd juxtaposition of both benign traditions and disturbing pathologies: wellness tourism, missionary practice, militaristic domination. Evans’s extensive investigation into his subjects is enhanced by a trained eye and impressive skill using image detail and color.
Cliff Evans (b. 1977) was an Artist-in-Residence at the Gardner in 2006. He currently lives in New York and is a new faculty member at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Read what the critics are saying about Empyrean:
“Apocalypse Wow!: A thrilling, seductive, action-packed romp.” Full article
– The Boston Phoenix
“A contemporary, high-impact digital video installation …so wittily packaged you might miss the scathing irony that drives it.” Full article
– The Boston Globe
“A stream-of-consciousness roller coaster ride through a junkyard of cultural factoids.” Full article
– Metrowest Daily News
Conversations with Cliff Evans:
Saturday, November 10, 1:30pm
Pieranna Cavalchini, Curator of Contemporary Art, Gardner Museum
Thursday, November 15, 7:00pm
Mary Ellen Strom, artist and teacher at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Thursday, November 29, 6:30pm
Barbara London, Associate Curator, Department of Media at Museum of Modern Art, New York
Thursday, December 20
7:00pm: George Fifield, Director, Boston
Cyberarts Festival
8:00pm: Drazen Pantic, Founder, OpenNet &
open-PLAYER
open-PLAYER, an innovative technology that ensures synchronization and playback of High Definition streams was used for playback of Cliff Evans' new five-channel video work, Empyrean.
The 2007 Artist-in-Residence program is made possible, in part, by the Nimoy Foundation and generous individuals. The Gardner Museum receives operating support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
