Empyrean
For his first solo show in Baltimore, Cliff Evans features his seminal piece, Empyrean, a five-channel HD video projection measuring approximately 10’h x 25’w. In addition, Evans has presented a two-channel video object as well as two unique works on paper. His video projection, Empyrean is a digital polyptych with photomontage animation that recalls the form of 15th-century Northern European altarpieces merged with contemporary advertising narratives. Scene after scene of Evans’s five-channel projection has deliberate order and disquieting disorder, creating a loose but provocative narrative around the subjects of power and population control, coded with interesting and often humorous subtexts. Empyrean’s themes are developed through an absurd juxtaposition of both benign traditions and disturbing pathologies: wellness tourism, missionary practice, and militaristic domination. Evans’s extensive investigation into his subjects is enhanced by a trained eye and impressive skill using image detail and color.
This mesmerizing work was first presented at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 2007, was recently exhibited during the summer of 2008 at Luxe Gallery in New York City, and now debuts to the Mid-Atlantic at the Library in collaboration with Curator’s Office. In 2006, Evans’s work was first introduced to the Baltimore and Washington DC area when featured in the award-winning exhibition Material Matters, curated by Jason Hughes for Maryland Art Place’s 25th anniversary. His featured three-channel video projection, The Road to Mount Weather was recognized as a highlight of the exhibition, by The Baltimore City Paper, the Baltimore Sun, and by Tom Hall from the radio program Maryland Morning. That same year, The Road to Mount Weather was recognized as the “#2 Film of the Year” by Barbara London for Artforum’s Best of 2006.
About the Artist
Cliff Evans was born on a commune in Darkwood, New South Wales, Australia in 1977. At the age of three, he and his family moved to a peach orchard in East Texas. He was naturalized four years later. Evans graduated in 2002 from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, and a year later he returned for the competitive Fifth Year Program.
Evans is a multi-media artist whose work focuses primarily on popular and internet culture using appropriation and photomontage animation. His multi-channel installations and video objects have been shown at the Chelsea Art Museum, Luxe Gallery, and Location One in New York; the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Brickbottom Gallery, the Judi Rotenberg Gallery in Boston; the Maryland Art Place in Baltimore; the Creative Research Lab in Austin, Texas; and the Chinese International Gallery Exposition in Beijing, China.
Awards and honors include: Artforum's Top 10 Artist Films for 2006 as picked by MOMA curator Barbara London. a traveling scholarship from The Medici Society Limited, London, UK; and a nomination for the Princess Grace Award from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, New York, NY. Evans has also been an artist-in-residence at Boston Symphony Orchestra Tanglewood, Lenox, MA; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA; and Location One International Residency Program, New York, NY. Evans has also shot film with the Hungarian filmmaker, Bela Tarr. Evans currently lives and works in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY.
This mesmerizing work was first presented at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 2007, was recently exhibited during the summer of 2008 at Luxe Gallery in New York City, and now debuts to the Mid-Atlantic at the Library in collaboration with Curator’s Office. In 2006, Evans’s work was first introduced to the Baltimore and Washington DC area when featured in the award-winning exhibition Material Matters, curated by Jason Hughes for Maryland Art Place’s 25th anniversary. His featured three-channel video projection, The Road to Mount Weather was recognized as a highlight of the exhibition, by The Baltimore City Paper, the Baltimore Sun, and by Tom Hall from the radio program Maryland Morning. That same year, The Road to Mount Weather was recognized as the “#2 Film of the Year” by Barbara London for Artforum’s Best of 2006.
About the Artist
Cliff Evans was born on a commune in Darkwood, New South Wales, Australia in 1977. At the age of three, he and his family moved to a peach orchard in East Texas. He was naturalized four years later. Evans graduated in 2002 from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, and a year later he returned for the competitive Fifth Year Program.
Evans is a multi-media artist whose work focuses primarily on popular and internet culture using appropriation and photomontage animation. His multi-channel installations and video objects have been shown at the Chelsea Art Museum, Luxe Gallery, and Location One in New York; the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Brickbottom Gallery, the Judi Rotenberg Gallery in Boston; the Maryland Art Place in Baltimore; the Creative Research Lab in Austin, Texas; and the Chinese International Gallery Exposition in Beijing, China.
Awards and honors include: Artforum's Top 10 Artist Films for 2006 as picked by MOMA curator Barbara London. a traveling scholarship from The Medici Society Limited, London, UK; and a nomination for the Princess Grace Award from the Princess Grace Foundation-USA, New York, NY. Evans has also been an artist-in-residence at Boston Symphony Orchestra Tanglewood, Lenox, MA; Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MA; and Location One International Residency Program, New York, NY. Evans has also shot film with the Hungarian filmmaker, Bela Tarr. Evans currently lives and works in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY.
