Kevin Schmidt
March 28–June 1, 2014
Contemporary Art Gallery
555 Nelson Street, Vancouver
BC, V6B 6R5
Canada
Kevin Schmidt: EDM House
June 15–August 31, 2014
Fogo Island Cinema
210 Main Road, Joe Batt’s Arm
NL, A0G 2X0
Canada
www.contemporaryartgallery.ca
www.fogoislandarts.ca
Kevin Schmidt’s EDM House (2013), a new work commissioned by Fogo Island Arts, will be presented at the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, as a part of a solo exhibition by the artist. Based in Vancouver and Berlin, Schmidt’s show comprises a survey of recent works, including a second major new piece, High Altitude Balloon Harmless Amateur Radio Equipment (2013). Complementing his CAG exhibition, Fogo Island Cinema, Fogo Island, Newfoundland will present screenings of EDM House over the course of six weeks this summer.
Schmidt is best known for addressing notions of displaced spectacle where remarkable events containing elements of urban culture are staged against the backdrop of the natural world. EDM House is a light and sound work picturing a small cabin in the interior of British Columbia, its outside festooned with garlands of colourful lights akin to a suburban celebratory display. The building also glows from within; the illuminations synchronized to an incongruous electronic rhythm in a secluded mountainous setting. Drawing parallels between the original homesteader’s desire to escape to new pastures, and contemporary “hobbyist” production or the DIY culture of Electronic Dance Music (EDM) as a counter to the mainstream, Schmidt seeks to interrogate such ideas via a surreal combination of the spectacular.
Comprising a homemade camera and a large-format slide projection, High Altitude Balloon Harmless Amateur Radio Equipment used a weather balloon to capture an image of the Earth by launching the equipment 35,000 meters into space. The resulting photograph of the stratosphere is presented as an immersive projection in the darkness of the gallery. Undeniably beautiful, the image is foiled by the means of its presentation and its production. Like many of Schmidt’s works, High Altitude Balloon Harmless Amateur Radio Equipment makes clear the narrative of its construction and process, unexpected parallels drawn by bringing together different “realities.”
Publication: Kevin Schmidt—EDM House (2014)
To accompany these presentations, EDM House, a coproduction of Fogo Island Arts (Fogo Island, NL) and Sternberg Press (Berlin), will be published in summer 2014. The book features texts by Michael Turner, Jeff Derksen and an interview with Kevin Schmidt by Jack Stanley.
EDM House was commissioned by Fogo Island Arts with the support of the Canada Council and the British Columbia Arts Council.
The exhibition in Vancouver is made in collaboration with Braunschweiger Kunstverein, Germany.
Further information:
fogoislandarts.ca / contemporaryartgallery.ca / sternberg-press.com
Press contacts
Contemporary Art Gallery
555 Nelson Street
Vancouver, BC
V6B 6R5
Canada
T +001 604 681 2700 / j.henderson [at] contemporaryartgallery.ca
Fogo Island Arts
Highway 334 – Suite 100
Fogo Island, NL
A0G 2X0
Canada
T +001 709 266 1083 / rosemaryheather [at] fogoislandarts.ca
