Pierre Coupey: Manifest | Trace
March 3 – April 13, 2019
In his arresting solo exhibition Manifest | Trace, West Vancouver artist Pierre Coupey presents work in a variety of media that foregrounds the importance of language and the immense impact it has on shaping our world.
A quartet of square monochromatic oil paintings, a glowing neon text-based installation, twenty-six ceramic plates each carved, painted, and inscribed with a letter of the alphabet, occupy the gallery. In homage to American writers William Carlos Williams and Gilbert Sorrentino, Coupey gives physical form to two of their seminal works and takes inspiration from their poetry about life and language.
Manifest | Trace exemplifies Coupey’s method of working in shorter series that originate from a core set of concepts and emotions. The exhibition, divided into several of these smaller series, makes clear how Coupey explores deliberately restricted aesthetic parameters in each.
Pierre Coupey was a founding co-editor of The Georgia Straight and founding editor of The Capilano Review. His work has received awards, grants, commissions, including grants from the Conseil des Arts du Québec, the Canada Council, and the BC Arts Council. He has published nine books of poetry, chapbooks, catalogues, and exhibited in Canada and abroad. His work is represented in private, corporate, university and public collections, including those of the Burnaby Art Gallery, the Canada Council Art Bank, the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery and the Vancouver Art Gallery. His work is represented by Gallery Jones in Vancouver and by Odon Wagner Contemporary in Toronto.
Image credit: Pierre Coupey, ceramic plates in process, 15 x 15”, 2019
Reception: Sunday March 3, 2 – 4 p.m.
Artist Talk: Sunday March 17, 2 p.m.
Poetry Reading with Pierre Coupey, Matea Kulić and George Stanley: Sunday March 24, 2 p.m.
