Building on Ruins

Building on Ruins Nicolas Grenier, Keith Rocka Knittel, Michael Ray-Von & Marcel Miranda Ackerman, Vidisha Saini, Katie Sinnott, Caroline Thomas, & Etienne Zack

Cirrus 2013-2014

Building on Ruins Nicolas Grenier, Keith Rocka Knittel, Michael Ray-Von & Marcel Miranda Ackerman, Vidisha Saini, Katie Sinnott, Caroline Thomas, & Etienne Zack

November 16 th , 2013 January 18th, 2014 Cirrus Gallery 542 S. Alameda Los Angeles, CA 90013

Cirrus 2013-2014

Building on Ruins

By Nicolas Grenier and Keith Rocka Knittel “He who seeks to approach his own buried past must conduct himself like a man digging.”

— Walter Benjamin The famous actress sweeps down the temple’s crumbling promenade in a magenta sari, past growling monkeys and smoking soldiers squatting along the edge of the polluted moat. Urine streaming down her bare leg, the outraged child screams and points at the German tourist’s shiny Nikon when he refuses to purchase her paper rose for an American dollar. Behind the headless Vishnu, decapitated

by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, the teenager huffs paint, staining purple lips with a silver metallic halo.

Angkor Wat is an amalgamation of desire and antipathy, industry and collapse, faith and futility, a 1,200 year old lost mecca consumed by strangler tree roots, “rediscovered” by a French naturalist and today famed with a Cirque du Soleil extravaganza, Smile of Angkor. Five centuries of urban development excavated from the jungle, Hindu temples became Buddhist temples, which

were later reconverted into Hindu temples, before being occupied by Buddhist monks — each transition leaving traces in the stones: a cultural layering followed by five centuries of human neglect and vegetal growth, repopulated with hordes of tourists and vendors.

At the apex is a contemporary layer of history in the form of human litter. Meanwhile the jungle continues to grow, envelopes temples and trash alike with the same timeless indifference, providing an illusionary levelling effect in its green patina.

Building on Ruins is a collective project that addresses both our impulse to build our own monuments and the problematic nature of the ground on which we stand. Contemporary art takes roots in a dense, messy, all-over pattern of political, economic, social and cultural issues. It is no longer possible to consider the blank canvas as an untouched space, in the same way it is impossible to consider naively such notions as “untouched nature”, “pure air” or “clean water”.

Yet making artworks requires a certain form of idealism, which is often difficult to reconcile with the state of the world.

Keith Rocka Knittel Phases of the Moon During the Day (1-3), detail 2013

Michael Ray-Von and Marcel Miranda Ackerman Obras Negras, 2013

One solution to this problem is to keep a form of detachment towards the art object. The artist creates with reserve: the artwork is a proposition, and the art object needs not be fully realized and polished, only to the extent that is necessary to fulfil its purpose. Another solution is to accept the futile nature of complete dedication to art making, but to commit anyway and realize the artwork to its full potential. As opposed to the Buddhist philosophy of renouncement, this approach implies a different kind of detachment, not towards the art object but towards the energy we invest in it, towards the futility of our faith in our own creation.

This project investigates the second strategy. The works grouped in this exhibition use a deconstructed architecture, framework or system as a point of departure to build on top of, literally and/or figuratively. This willingness to acknowledge structural damage as part of the process can be resilience, indifference or cynicism, but nevertheless the works offer a sincere act of construction.

Cumulatively, they suggest a perspective from which we can conceive fabrication and collapse as part of the same project, thus engaging directly with the layering of history. Like the jungle growing over temples and trash, or — more aptly —, like building a temple with trash and planting trees on it.

Katie Sinnott, She/Sea, 2013, mixed media installation, dimensions variable, ACME, Los Angelges

Nicolas Grenier Middle Ground III, 2013 Oil and acrylic on wood panel, 36” x 24”

Nicolas Grenier, Middle Ground III, detail

Nicolas Grenier Buoyant Home Template, 2013 Oil and acrylic on wood panel, 36" x 24"

Buoyant Home Template, detail

Keith Rocka Knittel Phases of the Moon During the Day (1-3), 2013 Wax and debris on MDF, 17" round

Keith Rocka Knittel, ‘73/93, ‘93/73, 2013, Inkjet print on paper, framed, 18” x 24”

Keith Rocka Knittel Phases of the Sun During the Night (1-3), 2013 Wax and debris on newsprint, framed, 13" x 18"

Keith Rocka Knittel, Spiral Jetty (V) / Invert, 2013 Wood, found table, plaster, rock from Robert Smithson's "Spiral Jetty," latex and acrylic paint, dimensions variable

Michael Ray-Von and Marcel Miranda Ackerman Obra Negra website

Michael Ray-Von and Marcel Miranda Ackerman Obra Negra website

Michael Ray-Von and Marcel Miranda Ackerman Obra Negra website

Michael Ray-Von and Marcel Miranda Ackerman Obra Negra website

Vidisha Saini Souvenir from the tour, You Like Mr. Shekhar, from the project "Of Eldorado", Hampi, India, 2013 Map, Eraser, Tamarind Seeds, Chawang- game

Vidisha Saini ELDORADO to ELDORADO, from the project “Of Eldorado”, 2013 Archival Print, Mixed Media.

15”x10” Edition of 8

Excerpt from video documentation, ELDORADO to ELDORADO, from the project "Of Eldorado", Performance by Vidisha Saini.

Spring Street, Los Angeles, 2013

Vidisha Saini Installation View, Pyrites and Video Projection.

For the episode “The Eldorado”, from the project “Of Eldorado” Cirrus Gallery, Los Angeles, 2013

Vidisha Saini Excerpt from Video Documentation, You Like Mr. Shekhar, from the project “Of Eldorado” Hampi, India, 2013

Katie Sinnott, 11:11 (detail), 2012 Mixed media installation New Wight Gallery, UCLA

Katie Sinnott, She/Sea, 2013 Mixed media installation ACME, Los Angeles

Katie Sinnott, Cold Water (detail), 2013 Mixed media installation, dimensions variable New Wight Gallery, UCLA

CarolineThomas, Interlude, 2012 Video still

CarolineThomas Generator, 2012

CarolineThomas Generator, 2012

Etienne Zack Boxed In, 2013 Oil on canvas, 48 in x 42 in

Etienne Zack Overlap, 2013 Oil on canvas, 48 in x 42 in

Etienne Zack Papers I, 2013 Oil on canvas, 48in x 42 in

Etienne Zack Papers I, 2013, detail

Building on Ruins

November 16th - January 18th

Opening reception: Saturday, November 16th, 5 - 9pm Performance by Vidisha Saini at 5pm

Nicolas Grenier, Keith Rocka Knittel, Michael Ray-Von & Marcel Miranda Ackerman, Vidisha Saini, Katie Sinnott, Caroline Thomas, & Etienne Zack

Caroline Thomas, Interlude, video still, 2012

The famous actress sweeps down the temple’s crumbling promenade in a magenta sari, past growling monkeys and smoking soldiers squatting along the edge of the polluted moat.

Urine streaming down her bare leg, the outraged child screams and points at the German tourist’s shiny Nikon when he refuses to purchase her paper rose for an American dollar.

Behind the headless Vishnu, decapitated by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge, the teenager huffs paint, staining purple lips with a silver metallic halo. Angkor is an amalgamation of desire and antipathy, industry and collapse, faith and futility, a 1,200 year old lost mecca consumed by strangler tree roots, rediscovered by a French naturalist, destroyed by rebels, and today laserlit with a Cirque du Soleil extravaganza, Smile of Angkor.

Building on Ruins is a collective project investigating the multi-layered perspective from which we can conceive fabrication and collapse, thus engaging directly with the layering of history.

Like the jungle growing over temples and trash, or - more aptly, like building a temple with

trash and planting trees on it, the works in the exhibition explore our personal relationship with the layering of history and the impulse to build our own monuments on the problematic ground on which we stand. This willingness to acknowledge structural damage as part of the creative process can manifest resilience, indifference or cynicism. Nevertheless these works offer a sincere act of construction, an approach implying a different kind of detachment, not towards the art object but towards the energy invested in it, towards the futility of our faith in our own creation.

Organized by Nicolas Grenier, Keith Rocka Knittel, and Etienne Zack, Building on Ruins will also include a series of readings, performances, a live KCHUNG broadcast, and an expansive webbased project. As documentation and artifacts of the exhibition are accumulated as web content, the website, Obra Negra (http://buildingon.ru/ins) will accumulate 256 states of stylistic construction exhibited on a dynamically animate timeline. The construction will commence on November 1, 2013, and conclude with the closing of the exhibition and live KCHUNG broadcast on January 18, 2014.

Building on Ruins Events:

Friday, November 1st: Obra Negra (http://buildingon.ru/ins) goes live Thursday, November 21st: Readings and screening of Post Fordlandia, a film by Megs Morley and Tom Flanagan 7-9pm

Saturday, December 14th: Readings and performances 7-9pm Saturday, December 21st: Offsite event - Vidisha Saini performs “Eldorado to Eldorado” 7-9pm Saturday, January 18: Live KCHUNG Broadcast 12-6pm Vidisha Saini performance 5-6pm

Nicolas Grenier received his BFA from Concordia University and his MFA from CalArts. Recent exhibitions include A Marginal Revolution (Kuad Gallery, Istanbul), The Road (Luis De Jesus, Los Angeles), Color Consciousness (Torrance Art Museum), Have You Seen My Privacy? (Concord, Los Angeles), Corner-Thru (Choi&Lager Gallery, Cologne, and Union gallery, London), andProximities (galerie Art Mûr). Grenier’s work can be found in the Musée National des BeauxArts du Québec and the Loto-Québec Collection. He currently lives in both Montreal and Los Angeles.

Keith Rocka Knittel holds an MFA from CalArts and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and is the founding director of OCEAN (westofcalifornia.org). His work has been in recent exhibits at Angels Gate Cultural Center (Los Angeles, CA), Otras Obras (Tijuana, Mexico) and DoubleDoubleLand (Toronto, Canada). He lives and works in San Pedro, California.

Michael Ray-Von has lived primarily in Southern California, and studied at the California Institute of the Arts. He is the co-director of Otras Obras, an art space in Tijuana, BC, and currently resides in Mexico City, DF. Marcel Miranda Ackerman is a software writer focused on source code aesthetics and design automation algorithms. Originally from Tijuana, he currently resides in México City.

Vidisha Saini holds an MFA in Photography & Media and Integrated Media from CalArts and a

Bachelor of Design in Communication Design from National Institute of Fashion Technology (New Delhi). Solo exhibitions include White Breading and Of Eldorado at CalArts, and Pratibimb & Showtime at Matthieu Foss Gallery in Mumbai. She currently resides in Los Angeles.

Katie Sinnott received her MFA from UCLA in 2013, and holds degrees from UC Berkeley and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She recently exhibited at Night Gallery and ACME in Los Angeles, where she currently resides.

Caroline Thomas holds a BA in Art from UC Berkeley, an MFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, and also attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine. She recently exhibited at Telles Fine Art in Los Angeles, as well as the Hammer Museum, where her work can be found in their permanent collection. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Etienne Zack attended the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Concordia University, and Saint-Laurent College in Montréal. Recent solo exhibitions include the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal, Canada (catalog), Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, Norway, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, England, and Blackwood Gallery at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada. His work can be found in a number of collections such as the National Gallery of Canada, Vancouver Art Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal, National Fine Arts Museum of Quebec, Montreal Fine Arts Museum, Zabludowicz Collection, and The Model in Ireland. Zack currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

Nicolas Grenier / Bio (English) Nicolas Grenier received his BFA from Concordia University in 2004 and his MFA from CalArts in 2010. His work has been exhibited regularly in Canada, in the US and in Europe. He lives and works in Los Angeles and Montreal, and is represented by galerie Art Mûr in Montreal. Recent exhibitions include: A Marginal Revolution (Kuad Galley, Istanbul), The Road (Luis De Jesus Los Angeles), Color Consciousness (Torrance Art Museum), Untitled Tower/Brutalist Treehouse (Concord, Los Angeles), Corner-Thru (Choi&Lager Gallery, Cologne, and Union gallery, London), recent acquisitions from the CPOA (Musée Nationale des Beaux-Arts du Québec) and Proximities (galerie Art Mûr).

Nicolas Grenier / Bio (Français) Nicolas Grenier a obtenu un baccalauréat à l’université Concordia en 2004 et une maîtrise à CalArts en 2010. Son travail a été exposé régulièrement au Canada, aux États-Unis et en Europe.

Il vit et travaille à Los Angeles et à Montréal, et est représenté à Montréal par la galerie Art Mûr.

Ses expositions récentes inclues: The Road (Luis De Jesus Los Angeles), Color Consciousness (Torrance Art Museum), Untitled Tower/Brutalist Treehouse (Concord, Los Angeles), CornerThru (Choi&Lager Gallery, Cologne, and Union gallery, London), acquisitions récentes de la CPOA (Musée Nationale des Beaux-Arts du Québec) et Proximités (galerie Art Mûr).

Nicolas Grenier / Artist Statement My interest lies in the distorted connections between the many systems we inhabit—political, economic, cultural and social—and the principles (or absence of principles) at the root of these systems. My artworks, primarily paintings but also drawings, architectural installations, artist books and prints, translate these theoretical, philosophical problems into the visual or physical.

Using the language of architecture, urban planning and diagrams, I imagine absurd or perverse models that are not incongruous with the mechanisms by which organic elements are integrated into structured wholes: households, communities, countries, maps, policies.

Such concerns may appear irreconcilable with the practice of painting. Is painting limited to selfreferential lyricism and subjectivity alone, or can it also be used to propose a more analytical critique of societal and topical issues? I try to raise this fundamental question in my work by combining research and the use of many symbolic and indexical elements such as color coding, text, arrows and legends, which constantly refer to concepts and ideas outside the canvas, while their meaning within the work remains relative to colors and shapes. How might the subtle violence of a warm green glaze over a cold pink relate to the shift of meaning between two words such as “integration” and “assimilation”? This ambiguous relationship between content and form—as well as my own skepticism towards language—is becoming a central concern in my work.

Occasionally, projects will take the form of architectural installations and become larger threedimensional works. These often include modular elements and are conceived as interactive ways to explore some of the ideas in my paintings at a human scale, such as the integration of public and private space, and how dividing, opening or closing spaces affect social interactions and relations of power. Beyond the specificity of the mediums, the result of my formal and conceptual explorations could be described as a multilayered critique of society, a social and structural hallucination that hovers between irony, cynicism and political engagement.

Keith Rocka Knittel 979 W 11th St San Pedro, CA 90731 www.keithrocka.com

Keith Rocka Knittel holds an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and a BFA from the Maryland Institute, College of Art (M.I.C.A). He is currently a staff member at the USC Roski School of Fine Arts, and the Founding Director of OCEAN (westofcalifornia.org) and has served as an interim Technical Faculty and Practicum Faculty member at CalArts. He lives and works in San Pedro, California, where he attempts to break down the linear preconceptions of time and space.

Michael Ray-Von Born September 27, 1988 in San Diego, CA Lives in Ciudad de México, DF BFA - California Institute of the Arts Valencia, CA 2012 Co-Director Otras Obras 2012-Present Selected Exhibitions

Mural Problem

Otras Obras

Curated by Fiona Connor

Tijuana, BC 2013

What Can I Tell You That You Don’t Already Know?

CalArts A402 Gallery Valencia, CA 2012

Notes on a New Nature 319 Scholes New York, NY 2011

Bedros Yeretzian & Michael Ray-Von Loading Dock Gallery Thousand Oaks, CA 2011

That’s How We Know The Tongue Is Blind Curtat Tunnel Lausanne, Switzerland 2011

Short-term Deviation EFA Project Space New York, NY 2010

Please Remember Everything Actual Size Los Angeles, CA 2010 Curatorial Efforts

Asamblea/Ensamblar with Clay Gibson Otras Obras Tijuana, BC 2013 Involución with Temra Pavlovic Otras Obras Tijuana, BC 2013 Decorating the Val Verde Home

Val Verde, CA 2011

Selected Projects

A List of Students Enrolled In Post Studio Art,

with Michael Asher at CalArts, 1976 — 2008

Book design 2013

LA Unified

with Albert Samreth

Exhibition/symposium of

students and faculty from

various LA art academies 2012

Yung Jake

Print and web design

2011 - Present

Vidisha Saini likes to queer utopia, colonialism, gender, history and tourism. She works with alter-egos (Fadescha), performance, multi-media, hyper-text and games.

Vidisha’s social as well as anti-social.

Saini holds a Master of Fine Arts in Photography & Media, and Integrated Media from California Institute of the Arts (2013, CA) and a Bachelor of Design in Communication Design from National Institute of Fashion Technology (2010, New Delhi.) She is presently based in Los Angeles.

Vidisha Saini’s solo exhibition include “White Breading” and “Of Eldorado” at CalArts, 2013, and “Pratibimb & Showtime” at Matthieu Foss Gallery, Mumbai, 2011. Recent selected group exhibitions include Cindrella Ashtray, Concord, LA, 2013; “PIX- Suburbia”, Goethe Institute, Hamburg, 2013; “Subject Matters”, Chinatown, Los Angeles, 2013; “A Photograph is Not an Opinion – Contemporary Photography by Women”, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, 2013; “New Directions In Old Media: Post Conceptual Journeys”, Trapezoid Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2012; “Beauty & The Beast”, Matthieu Foss Gallery, Mumbai, 2012; “ARTiculate”, Pratham UK and Saffron Art, London, 2011 and “Sampling India: Of Blind Men And Elephant”, The Empty Quarter, Dubai, 2011.

Her performances in 2013 include “Indian-American Bread”, Plaza, Santa Fe, NM, For Center Artsis Lab, funded by National Endowment for the Arts; “ELDORADO to ELDORADO”, Downtown to South LA, LA; “Talking Sounds”, Harvest works, New York Electronic Art Festival, NY ; “Asking for it” and “Her Crime”, Subject Matters, Chinatown, LA; “Speak Evil”, Slag Manifesto, Valencia, CA; “My man likes my car waxed”, Obstacle Car, Valencia, CA; “You Like Mr. Shekhar”, Of Eldorado, Valencia, CA; “You Like Mr. Shekhar”, Hampi, India.

Katie Sinnott katiesinnott@gmail.com (650)302-4318 Education 2013 MFA, Sculpture

UCLA , Los Angeles, CA 2009 Fifth Year Certificate School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 2008 Studio Art Diploma School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 2007 Post- Baccalaureate Certificate School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 2005 Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude University of California, Berkeley, CA Major: American Studies Group Exhibitions 2013 UCLA MFA Thesis Show #1, New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. WORK/SPACE, ACME., Los Angeles, CA. UCLA MFA Spring Open Studios, Los Angeles, CA 2012

UCLA MFA Fall Pre-view Show, New Wight Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. UCLA MFA Spring Open Studios, Los Angeles, CA. UCLA MFA Fall Open Studios, Los Angeles, CA.

2011

UCLA MFA Fall Open Studios, Los Angeles, CA. Travelling Scholars, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.

2009 Graduating Students Exhibition, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Fifth Year Exhibition, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. 2008 Inside Out Sale, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston , MA. Student Annual Show, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA .

2007 The Outlet- December Sale, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Post-Baccalaureate Spring Exhibition, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. 2006 Post- Baccalaureate Fall Exhibition, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Drawing Salon, University of California, Berkeley, CA 2005.

Drawing Salon, University of California, Berkeley, CA 2004.

Visual Autobiography, University of California, Berkeley, CA 2004.

Awards and Fellowships 2013 Dedalus Foundation Masters of Fine Arts Fellowship 2013 Arts Council Fellowship 2013 UCLA Graduate Division Fellowship 2012 -2013 Stuart and Lynda Resnick Scholarship 2009 Travelling Scholars Grant, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

After two years of travel and artistic exploration, Scholars exhibit their work in a group show at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Residencies 2009 RECYCLE ME! Project, Casamarles, Llorenc del Penedes, Spain.

One of twelve international artists to build a permanent installation out of recycled furniture, in a house now open as an artist residency.

Caroline Thomas Born in San Francisco Lives in Los Angeles Education Art Center College of Design, MFA, 2002 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, 1997 University of California, Berkeley, BA, 1995 Exhibitions 2012 Artists Tower of Protest by Mark Di Suvero, organized by LAX Art, Sunset and Hilldale, Hollywood Made in LA, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles Formwandler, Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles Fix-It-Up too, SASSAS Benefit Auction, Blum & Poe, Los Angeles 2011 No Swan So Fine, Michael Benevento, Los Angeles curated by Joanna Fiduccia LAX Art Benefit Auction, Los Angeles 2010 Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles. Three person exhibition Aritst Curated Projects, Los Angeles. Group exhibition USC Faculty Exhibition, Lindhurst Gallery, Roski School of Fine Arts 2009 The Curse of Ceramics, China Art Objects, Four Person Exhibition, Los Angeles You Can’t Expect…, , Four Person Exhibition, Las Cienegas Projects, Los Angeles In Search of Geography/ “Cosmic Tones for Mental Therapy, Solo Exhibition, New Langton Arts Foyer, San Francisco Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE) Benefit Art Auction 2009, Los Angeles 1999, China Art Objects Gallery / Cottage Home Gallery, Los Angeles, group exhibition 2008 The Drowned Giant, Artist Curated Projects, Los Angeles, Three-person exhibition curated by Jeff Ono Flowing Pulsing Beating Burning, Glendale College Art Gallery, Group exhibition 2006 Residence Choice, Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, Group exhibition 2005

The Meeting, Eagle Rock Center for the Arts, Group exhibition Follow Me: A Fantasy, Arena One Gallery, Santa Monica. Group exhibition curated by Malik Gaines 2002 Song Poems, Cohen Leslie and Browne, New York. Group exhibition curated by Steven Hull 2001 Song Poems, Rosamund Felsen, Santa Monica. Group exhibition curated

by Steven Hull Syncope, solo thesis exhibition, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena 2000 Democracy, The Bradberry Building, Los Angeles. Group exhibition curated

by Andy Ouchi Stendhal Syndrome, solo exhibition, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena Teaching University of Southern California, Adjunct Faculty, Roski School of Fine Arts, Sculpture Program 2009- the present

Biography Etienne Zack had his first solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal, Canada (with catalogue) in spring 2010. His work has also been shown in numerous solo exhibitions including Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, Norway; Thomas Dane Gallery, London, England; Marina-Miranda, Madrid, Spain; Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada; Blackwood Gallery at the University of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada. Zack’s work was also been included in East International 2004 (selectors: Neo Rauch and Harry Gerb Lybke), Norwich, England; The Model, Sligo, Ireland; the National Gallery of Canada; Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada; Nicole Klagsbrun, New York, United States; Projektraum Viktor Bucher, Vienna, Austria, and was part of the 2008 Quebec Triennial at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal, Canada.

Etienne Zack is the 2005 winner of the RBC Painting Competition and the 2008 City of Montreal's Pierre-Ayot prize.

His work is collected by major institutions and museums, including the National Gallery of Canada, Vancouver Art Gallery, Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal, National Fine Arts Museum of Quebec, Montreal Fine Arts Museum and The Model, Ireland. His work can also be found in private collections in the United States, Europe and the UK. Etienne Zack’s work uses fictitious possibilities and historical moments that are staged into paintings that are reminiscent of fabricated environments.

Each painting operates within its own systems and logic. A painting is made up of a succession of ideas that are performed using paint. Ideas accumulate and sediment onto the surface. As traces of thoughts amass and overlap on the canvas, construction and deconstruction of ideas and images are simultaneously active while wide ranges of themes and references from diverse fields are explored within a single painting. In effect, the paintings function as a way to activate and pry open different pictorial, cultural, and historical forces in order to experience them yet again in unique ways.

Etienne Zack lives and works in Los Angeles, USA.

Etienne Zack Solo Exhibitions 2013 (upcoming) Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada 2012 In Itself, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada 2011 BCC, Torrance Art Museum (sculpture patio), Torrance, California, USA 2010 Etienne Zack (catalogue), Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Canada Non-Narrative Notes, Equinox Gallery 2, Vancouver, Canada Autopia, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada NameMediumSizeYear (Untitled Circuit), Vancouver Cultural Olympiad, Vancouver, Canada 2008 Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada Occulture, Art 45, Montréal, Canada 2007 Authorshop, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Art 45, Montréal, Canada 2006 According to This, Bergen Kunsthall, Bergen, Norway Thomas Dane Gallery, London, England, (two person exhibition) Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Wrong Gallery Edition #125, curator: Babak Golkar Lobby Gallery, Vancouver, Canada 2005 Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada 2004 Galería Marina Miranda (catalog), Madrid, Spain 2002 Superpositions, Annexe III, Galerie Trois Points, Montréal, Canada Awry, Artcore Gallery, Toronto, Canada Nothing Really Happens, Third Avenue Gallery, Vancouver, Canada 2001 tropes, Third Avenue Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Selected Group Exhibitions 2013 Oh Canada (catalogue), curator: Denise Markonish (2014-2015 touring exhibition venues TBA) Corner Thru, Choi&Lager Gallery, Cologne, Germany Storage Wars, 5490Projects - Beacon Arts Building, Los Angeles, USA Soundtrack: Volume 1, Division Gallery, Montreal, Canada Soundtrack: Volume 2, Division Gallery, Toronto, Canada Territoires Imaginés, Collection Loto-Québec, Montreal, Canada 2012 Corner Thru, Union Gallery (catalogue), London, England Oh Canada (catalogue), curator: Denise Markonish, MASS MoCA, North Adams, USA Up the Walls, The Model, curator: Séamus Kealy, Sligo, Ireland Vision Machine, Surrey Art Gallery, curator: Jordan Strom, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, Canada Cut and Paste, Equinox Project Space, Vancouver, Canada Dissolutions, René Blouin Gallery, Montréal, Canada La Collection selon... Les Impatients, Collection Loto-Québec, Montreal, Canada 2011 Art from the Audain Collection: Shore, Forest and Beyond (catalogue), Vancouver Art Gallery, curator: Ian Thom, Grant Arnold, Vancouver, Canada

Between the Cracks (Picturing the Fourth Dimension), Curator: David Elliott, Oboro, Montreal, Canada Art Toronto, Equinox Gallery, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Canada Unreal, Vancouver Art Gallery, curator: Daina Augaitis, Vancouver, Canada Some Paintings, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada 2010 It Is What It Is (catalogue), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada Toronto International Art Fair, (Equinox Gallery and Art 45), Toronto, Canada 2009 National Gallery of Canada, Permanent Collection Exhibition, Ottawa, Canada 2008 Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée, tout se transforme (catalogue), The Quebec Triennal, Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Canada Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Toronto International Art Fair, (Equinox Gallery and Art 45), Toronto, Canada Toronto International Art Fair, (Equinox Gallery), Toronto, Canada 2007 Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada 2006 Paint (catalogue), Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Frieze Art fair, (Thomas Dane Gallery), London, England 2005 In a Certain Place, Nicole Klagsbrun, New York, USA RBC Canadian Painting Competition, Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, Toronto, Canada RBC Canadian Painting Competition, Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery, Halifax, Canada RBC Canadian Painting Competition, Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, Canada RBC Canadian Painting Competition, Galerie Sussex Gallery, Ottawa, Canada AP4-ART, Geneva, Switzerland No Place As Home: New Art From Vancouver, curator: Séamus Kealy, AP4-ART, Geneva, Switzerland No Place As Home: New Art From Vancouver, curator: Séamus Kealy, Projektraum Viktor Bucher, Vienna, Austria Living-it, Center A, curator: Sally Lee, Vancouver, Canada Artcore Gallery, Toronto, Canada Frieze Art Fair, (Thomas Dane Gallery), London, England Toronto International Art Fair, (Equinox Gallery), Toronto, Canada Turin Art Fair, (AP4-ART), Turin, Italy MiArt 2005, (AP4-ART), Milan, Italy Scope New York, (Artcore Gallery), New York, USA Art Bologna, (Artcore Gallery), Bologna, Italy 2004 East International 2004 (catalogue), Norwich Gallery, Norwich, England, selectors: Neo Rauch, Gerd Harry Lybke Equinox Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Artcore Gallery, Toronto, Canada KBK Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico City, Mexico Futuribles: Las Américas, ARCO, Madrid, Spain, curator: Bruce Grenville Disasteroids, INFEST, Video In, Vancouver, Canada

Art Basel, (Artcore Gallery), Miami Beach, USA Toronto International Art Fair, (Equinox Gallery), Toronto, Canada Art Cologne, (Artcore Gallery), Cologne, Germany FIAC, (Artcore Gallery), Paris, France Scope London, (Artcore Gallery), London, England MACO, (Artcore Gallery), Mexico City, Mexico MACO, (KBK Arte Contemporaneo), Mexico City, Mexico 2003 Artcore Gallery, Toronto, Canada Art Basel, (Artcore Gallery), Miami Beach, USA FIAC, (Artcore Gallery), Paris, France Brussels Art Fair, (Artcore Gallery), Brussels, Belgium 2002 Génération Montréal Generation, Montréal, Canada Failure, Belkin Satellite, Vancouve, Canada, curator: Séamus Kealy Art Basel, (Artcore Gallery), Miami Beach, USA Turin Art Fair, (Artcore Gallery), Turin, Italy Art Cologne, (Artcore Gallery), Cologne, Germany Toronto International Art Fair, (Third Avenue Gallery), Canada Chicago Art Fair, (Artcore Gallery), Chicago, USA 2001 Third Avenue Gallery, Vancouver, Canada 2000 Third Avenue Gallery, Vancouver, Canada X-Pollination, Palace Session, Vancouver, Canada, curator: Kelly Deck Passage 1999-2000 (catalog), Centre d’Exposition de Rouyn-Noranda, RouynNoranda, Canada, curator: Jean Dumont Location of Space, curator: Abigail Scholar, Antechamber Gallery, Regina, Canada 1999 Third Avenue Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Selected Bibliography (print) 2012 Mass MoCA (Exhibition Catalogue) , “Oh Canada”, curator: Denise Markonish, May 2012 2012 Artforum International, “Oh Canada”, Previews, by Kayla Guthrie, May 2012, p.154 2012 The Georgia Straight (Feature story), "Art Star: Etienne Zack hits home turf again", vol 46, #2312, April 12-19, 2012 by Robin Laurence 2010 National Gallery of Canada, "It Is What It Is: Recent Aquisitions of New Canadian Art" (Exhibition Catalogue, by Rhiannon Vogl, National Gallery of Canada, 2010, ABC Art Books Canada, p.152-153 2010 Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal (Exhibition Catalogue), "Etienne Zack", by François Letourneux and Séamus Kealy, Museum of Contemporary Art of Montreal, Canada, ABC Art Books Canada, 86 pages 2010 Border Crossings, "Crossovers : Visual Arts- Etienne Zack", by James D. Campbell, volume 29, number 3, issue no.115, p.135-136 2010 The Georgia Straight, "Etienne Zack turns on the art machines with Autopia", March 25, 2010 by Robin Laurence 2010 Le Devoir, "Les musées, entre ombre et lumière", by Marie-Ève Charron, January 16, 2010, Arts Visuels 2010 Le Collectif, "Exposition : Etienne Zack", by Émilie Lagacé

March 22, 2010 2010 The Globe and Mail, "L’atelier du peintre et ses visions fantasmatiques", by Sarah Milroy, Saturday April 3, 2010 2010 Galleries West, "Etienne Zack, Autopia, Equinox Gallery, March3-31, 2010", Canada Exhibition Reviews 2010 Le Devoir, "L’atelier du peintre et ses visions fantasmatiques", by Marie-Ève Charron, Saturday and Sunday, February 14, 2010, De Visu, E6 2010 National Post, "Abstract Exposition", by Leah Sandals, Tuesday, February 9, 2010, Avenue : Questions and Artists, B7 2010 Métro, "Etienne Zack au MACM", by Marc-André Lemieux, February 12-14, 2010, Culture, p.21 2010 Le Journal de Montréal, "Trois nouvelles expositions au musée d’art contemporain", by Dany Bouchard, Monday February 8, 2010, Arts et Spectacles, p.58 2010 La Presse, "Etienne Zack : Le peintre et son double", by Mario Cloutier, Saturday March 6, 2010, Arts et Spectacles, p.17 2010 Vie des Arts, "Etienne Zack : Vertigineux Abîmes", by Émilie Granjon, #218-Spring 2010, p.40-41 2009 OVNI Magazine 03, "La peinture est une technologie", Fall 2009, p. 2, p. 2125, p .72 2008 Carte Blanche, "Vol. 2: Painting", Magenta Foundation, 2008, p. 206-207 2008 Le Devoir, "Bravo les artistes: Remise de prix", by Jacque Grenier, Friday November 28, 2008, Week-End: Culture, B2 2008 Le Journal de Montréal, "La force créative de nos artistes", by Murielle Chatelier, Saturday November 29, 2008, Art Visuels, p. 54 2008 Vie des Arts, "Prix Pierre-Ayot", no. 213, Winter 2008-2009, p.15 2008 Vie des Arts, "Nothing Is Lost, Nothing Is Created, Everything Is Transformed", by John K.Grande, no. 212, p. 8-9 2008 Montreal Mirror, "Epic, outstanding and creepy: Triennial and push", by Stacey DeWolfe, December 25-January 7, 2008, p. 56 2008 Canadian Art, "Object World", by Robin Laurence, Fall 2008, Vol. 25, no.3, p.114-117 2008 La Presse, "Suspense et mystère", by Jocelyne Lepage, Saturday May 31, 2008, Arts et spectacles: Arts visuels, p. 17 2008 The Globe and Mail, "Is Montreal the real capital of Canada?", by Sarah Milroy, Saturday May 31, 2008, Visual arts: Review, p. R5 2008 Vie des Arts, "L’art contemporain au service du public", by Bernard Lévy, no.

211, Summer 2008, p. 76 2008 Vie des Arts, "Un air de légèreté", by Bernard Lévy, no. 211, Summer 2008, p. 79, 83 2008 Concordia Journal, "Concordia artists take the MAC", by Barbara Black, June 12, p. 12

2008 The Blackwood Gallery ( Exhibition Text), by Séamus Kealy, The Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Canada 2008 Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal (Exhibition Catalogue), ‘’Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée, tout se transforme’’, The Quebec Triennial, , Montréal, Québec, Canada 2008 Página 12, Lilian Rodríguez, 06/10/08 2007 Radio-Canada TV, Capsule Culturelle, Le Téléjournal, 08/12/07 2007 Radio-Canada Radio, "Le pont des arts", interview by Yolène Mottet, 28/11/07 2007 Western Living, "Westerly: Western Artist Etienne Zack", by Jaqueline Moore, December 2007, p.13 2007 Art Le Sabord, Fall 2007, p.12-16 2007 Fashion Magazine, "Art and commerce", by Kevin Chong, October 2007, p.

128-133 2006 Vancouver Art Gallery (Exhibition Catalogue), “Paint”, Monika Szewczyk and Neil Campbell, Vancouver Art Gallery publication, Canada 2006 Prague Art future 2006 (Exhibition Catalogue), “Tina B”, Prague, Czech Republic 2006 Canadian Art, "In Review - Etienne Zack, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver", by Sean Alward, Fall 2006, p. 139 2006 Modern Painters, "View from Vancouver - Art and Lifestyle in Hollywood North Peripheral Visions", by Christopher Mooney, July-August 2006, p. 100-101 2006 Galleries West, "Etienne Zack - Junk and the Realm of Ideas", by Dylan Cree, Fall/Winter 2006, p. 56-59 2006 The Vancouver Sun, "A cheerfully subversive artist", by Clint Burnham, Saturday, May 20, 2006, p.12 2006 The Georgia Straight, "Etienne Zack" by Robin Laurence, Vol. 40, No. 2003, May 11-18, p. 55 2005 The Georgia Straight, "Artists Exhibit Fresh Talent", Fall Arts Season Preview, Visual Arts, by Robin Laurence, Vol. 39, No. 1969, September 15-22 2005 Canadian Art, "Etienne Zack, Equinox Gallery, Vancouver", Rewind, Fall 2005, p. 154-155 2005 Border Crossings, "Etienne Zack Image Crusher", by Lee Henderson, p. 7179, Issue No. 95 2005 Flash Art, "Etienne Zack", by Dion Kliner, p. 124, Vol. XXXVIII, No. 243, July-September 2004 Flash Art, "Mixed Paint: Survey of Contemporary Painters", p. 98, Vol. XXXVII, No. 239, November/December 2004 East International 2004 (Exhibition Catalogue), by Keith Wallace, Norwich School of Art 2004 Galería Marina Miranda (Exhibition Catalogue), "Overwhelming the Image",

by Eugenio Castro Awards/Grants City of Montréal Pierre-Ayot Prize – 1st Prize 2008 RBC Painting Competition – 1st Prize 2005 Canada Council for the Arts – Project Grant 2010

Canada Council for the Arts – Project Grant 2002 Canada Council for the Arts – Travel Grant 2011 Canada Council for the Arts – Travel Grant 2005 Canada Council for the Arts – Travel Grant 2004 Brissenden Scholarship - 1999 Mary Catherine Gordon Memorial Scholarship - 1999 Collections National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada The Model, Sligo, Ireland Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada National Fine Arts Museum of Québec, Québec, Canada Fine Arts Museum of Montréal, Montréal, Canada Museum of Contemporary Art of Montréal, Montréal, Canada Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Montréal, Canada Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, Canada Glenbow Museum, Canada Zabludowicz Collection City of Montréal, Montréal, Canada National Bank of Canada, Montréal, Montréal, Canada Toronto Dominion Bank, Toronto, Canada Bank of Montréal Collection, Montréal, Canada Royal Bank Collection, Montréal-Toronto-Vancouver, Canada Loto-Québec, Montréal, Canada Polygone, Vancouver, Canada Granite Club, Toronto, Toronto, Canada Heenan Blaikie, Montréal, Canada Canaccord Capital, Canada Fasken Martineau Du Moulin, Vancouver, Canada Senvest Collection, Montréal, Canada Artist Talks/Lectures Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, Canada University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada Concordia University, Montréal, Canada Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Halifax, Canada University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada Université du Québec, Québec City, Canada Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, Montréal, Canada Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto in Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada Canadian Art - Gallery Hop (Equinox Gallery), Vancouver, Canada Vancouver Island School of Art Education Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, Canada Concordia University, Montréal, Canada College Saint-Laurent, Montréal, Canada

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