Charles Stankievech: The Desert Turned to Glass

Oakville Galleries is pleased to announce the exhibition The Desert Turned to Glass by Charles Stankievech, in two parts. Spanning the abyss of space and the depths of the earth, The Desert Turned to Glass is an epic meditation on beginnings, endings, and infinity. Altogether, the exhibition explores alternative theories concerning the origin of life, consciousness, and art. The Desert Turned to Glass is a place where the cosmic and chthonic collide.

At the Centennial Gallery, the artist presents the 30 minute film, The Eye of Silence in an immersive black box video installation. Evoking the resplendence of Earth’s evolution and existence, the film depicts a vast tapestry of creation and destruction. High atmospheric footage of volcanoes and the atmosphere lead to images of other otherworldly aspects of our planet’s terrain—deserts, meteorite craters, cave paintings, fields of stars, and views from inside a darkened cave. Created using various extra sensory photographic and sound equipment, and combining both resulting image and sound in a spectacular intensity, The Eye of Silence embodies metamorphosis and the sublime while skirting around notions of the limits of knowledge and experience.

At the Gairloch Gardens gallery, in dialogue with the landscape, garden and light at this lakeside site, the artist presents a new series of photographs, various sculpture—including one that defies gravity, and new video work based on recordings made by the artist during the Total Eclipse at Gairloch Gardens on April 8th, 2024.

Accompanying the exhibition is the publication of the same title, which collects new work by Stankievech alongside texts by J.G. Ballard, Karen Barad, Walter Benjamin, Douglas Cardinal, Dehlia Hannah, Takashi Ikegami, Takafumi Kawakami, J. David Lewis-Williams, Clarice Lispector, Ala Roushan, Nadim Samman, Barbara Sherwood Lollar, Charles Stankievech, and Kim Tait.

Charles Stankievech is an artist redefining “fieldwork” at the convergence of geopolitics, deep ecologies, and sonic resonances. From the Arctic’s northernmost settlement to the depths of the Pacific Ocean, Stankievech’s practice uncovers the paradoxes of our existence on the planet by engaging with the imperceptible. His award-winning work has been presented at institutions such as the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal; Kunste Werke, Berlin; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark; National Gallery of Canada; TBA21, Vienna; as well as several biennials from Venice to SITE Santa Fe. As a composer he mentored under World Soundscape founder R. Murrary Schafer and then Alvin Lucier, leading to the premiere of his work Radiance for Philip Glass’ MATA foundation. He has lectured at dOCUMENTA (13) and the 8th Berlin Biennale, and his writing has been published by Verso, MIT, Sternberg Press, e-flux, and Princeton Architectural Press. 

Exhibition curated by Séamus Kealy, Executive Director, Oakville Galleries.

Events
Concert by Charles Stankievech: The Glass Key 
Free admission; ticket required
Date: Saturday, November 23, 2024
Time: Doors open at 7:30pm, Concert begins at 8:00pm
Location: Trinity College Chapel, University of Toronto

Roundtable: Charles Stankievech with Séamus Kealy (Executive Director) and Ala Roushan (Curator and Writer)
Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Gairloch Gallery, Oakville Galleries

All events are free and open to the public.