Graeme Patterson. Secret Citadel

The Galerie de L'UQAM presents Secret Citadel, a major exhibition by Canadian artist Graeme Patterson, recently shortlisted for the prestigious 2014 Sobey Art Award. With inventiveness and nostalgia, Patterson explores ideas of friendship from childhood to old age. Five years in the making, this body of work is a semi-autobiographical story told by two anthropomorphic animals, a bison and a cougar. Playful creativity brings the characters together while awkwardness splits them apart.

This touring exhibition was co-produced by the Art Gallery of Hamilton and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, and co-curated by Melissa Bennett and Sarah Fillmore. After Montreal, the exhibition will be presented in winter 2015 at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta and in autumn 2015 at the Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, British-Columbia.

Secret Citadel

Secret Citadel features an animated video and four large, intricate installations containing stop-motion animations of the stages of life of the bison and the cougar, representing Patterson and a lost childhood friend. In creating these detailed miniature worlds, Patterson transports the viewer to a parallel universe blending personal memories with fiction.

Although Patterson focuses on the trials and tribulations of male friendship through reinterpreted fragments of memory, the exhibition explores the subtleties that enter into any close relationship. Patterson’s work probes universal themes of longing, loss and recovery.

Exhibition trailer: http://youtu.be/hyIr0ZOVaSY

About Graeme Patterson

Atlantic finalist for the 2014 Sobey Art Award, Graeme Patterson was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and now lives in Sackville, New Brunswick. Graeme’s practice stems from a self-taught method of producing stop-motion animations but has expanded into building large video/sculptural installations. These installations consist of animation, sculptural models, robotics, sound, music and some interactive elements. Graeme Patterson has been nominated for a JUNO Award (2011) and won the Canada Council’s Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award in Media Arts (2012) for outstanding mid-career artists.
www.graemepatterson.com

Support provided by:

Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
Canada Council for the Arts