October 30, 2007- January 13, 2008, Curated by Darrin Martins

A catalogue for this exhibition is available, with essays by Darrin
Martins and Rory Wallace. For more information please contact the Burnaby
Art Gallery at:
www.burnabyartgallery.ca

Press Release:

Jude Griebel: A Cast of Shadows
October 30, 2007 to January 13, 2008

(BURNABY, BC) – A Cast of Shadows presented by the Burnaby Art Gallery offers an insightful look into the art of Jude Griebel. The exhibition is comprised of 25 intaglio prints made in the last seven years and features Jude Griebel's unique interpretations of the world of illusion, dreams and the imagination that are reminiscent of illustrations in children's story books. An important emerging Vancouver based artist, Griebel is becoming nationally recognised as a proficient visual storyteller.

"Half-human creatures stand on dimly-lit stages in darkened theatres" notes Rory Wallace, Associate Professor, Critical and Cultural Studies at Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design. "Some of the players wear outsize masks, others assume more transparent disguises, and still others transform themselves by transforming their relationship with the animal world around them. They all explore the ambiguous relations of humans to other animals."

Jude Griebel completed his formal art education at the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design in 2003. This is where he developed his own artistic vocabulary that melded his upbringing, experiences and interest in historic children's literature and mythological allegories. In a 2003 artist statement, Griebel asserts that his work "can be seen as a re-transcribing and mythologizing of my personal history...a knit[ting] together [of] instances from my life with plots of fairy-tales from childhood literature, as well as folktales and family ghost stories rooted in the rural prairies." His works are also inspired by Czechoslovakian puppet theatre productions, films by American Brothers Quay and literary works by J.K. Huysmans, Lewis Carroll and Maurice Sendak.

Viewed as a body of work, A Cast of Shadows records Jude Griebel's investigations into the intaglio printmaking medium and as an effective means to relay personal and historical narratives – both real and imaginary.

The Burnaby Art Gallery will be holding an opening reception on Saturday, November 3 from 1-3 p.m. For more information about the exhibit, programs or tours call 604.205.7332 or visit burnabyartgallery.ca.

The Burnaby Art Gallery located at 6344 Deer Lake Avenue is open Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

The Burnaby Art Gallery is dedicated to presenting a contemporary and historical art program by local, regional, national and international artists; facilitating the development of emerging artists; providing diverse art educational programming; acquiring culturally significant works on paper; and care for and management of the City of Burnaby Permanent Art Collection

Footsteps in the Macaulay House Project

"The body of work that comprises Footsteps in the Macaulay House was completed during a recent artist residency in Dawson City, Yukon, under the auspices of the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture. The work focuses on the historic Macaulay house, which was established as a residence for visiting artists in 2001 and is rumored to be a site of supernatural activity. Over the years, visiting artists have had uncanny and unsettling experiences in the house, which have resulted in some cases in early departures and uncompleted residency projects. For the past two years I have been recording stories concerning supernatural events witnessed by members of the Canadian and international arts community while working in the house. Past residents who have sent me stories include Scott Marsden (director of the Nanaimo Art Gallery), Leela Gilday (singer/ songwriter, Toronto) and Naomi McCormack (artist and film instructor, Pennsylvania State University), among many others. From August until October 2007, I stayed in the Macaulay residence and used it as a studio to create paintings and two installation-based works based on the stories I had collected. The aim of this project was to catalogue and illustrate the rich mythology that has been built up around the Macaulay house and to use it as a vehicle to visually and conceptually explore fears and questions surrounding the afterlife.

The stories, paintings and installation works will be reproduced in a book, to be published in early 2008 with the assistance of the Canada Council for the Arts. A researched history of the Macaulay House will also be included in this publication."
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