Past Exhibition

Art on Demand 6.1

Artist Cara Guri and Curated by Bethany Haynes
Jan 23, 2020
to
Mar 08, 2020
EXHIBITION
Cara Guri, Linked, 2019, oil on panel, 18.5 x 28 in.
Cara Guri, Looking Glass, 2019, oil on panel, 20 x 28.5 in.

Cara Guri is an emerging artist currently based in White Rock, having spent some of her formative years between Abbotsford and Agassiz. Her art practice explores modes of identification of self and other, historical portraiture, and the forced slowness of her medium (oil painting) in our contemporary, mass produced society.

In the works in this exhibition, the artist considers the transactional nature of looking, and being looked at. Guri veils the eyes of her subjects behind arranged hair, hands, water glasses, or even other portraits. The subject’s ability to return the viewer’s gaze has been obstructed, leaving only a partially visible figure as the object of the viewer’s gaze. However Guri also strategically negates the viewer’s satisfaction of apprehending the subject’s face in its entirety. Both looker and looked-at are denied the full weight of this exchange.

The act of guarding in these works makes us want to know more, to see more, to pry these obstacles out of the way to satisfy our curiosity. Through a guarded subjection of personhood to the gaze, Guri adopts a deeply vulnerable position and makes us, as viewers, aware of our privilege. In laying bear and frustrating the power relations inherent in the act of looking, the subject of the painting shifts between the figure that is depicted and the viewers themselves.

The Reach Art on Demand 6.1 Monograph

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