Excerpts:
Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years is an international exhibition of contemporary indigenous art presented by Winnipeg Cultural Capital of Canada 2010 and organized by Plug In Institute for Contemporary Art with a number of other Winnipeg galleries.
There is a deep work by Mary Anne Barkhouse entitled "The Four Horses of the Apocalypse and the Donkey of Eternal Salvation". The main part of this work is four riding horses -- the kind you would find at a mall and ride for 25 cents. Each was mapped to an apocalyptic element, which was displayed on a banner behind the horse. The banners were exquisitely done. The detail was well worth the examination to see elements of doom that the artist had worked into them. The donkey was small, white and did evoke the image of redemption. Very thought provoking.
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Curator Emily Falvey's interpretation is that gallery-goers who ride Barkhouse's apocalyptic horses are "taking an adventure in carnival-grotesque humiliation."
Barkhouse wants people to draw their own conclusions. The piece includes four "heraldic" banners that refer to environmental destruction, with images of industry, mining, farming and fishing practices.
"I'm hoping to get the viewer to consider: How are we going to ride this horse, which is technology, from here on in? Are we going to go to Armageddon one quarter at a time . . . or take this ride to a better place?"
The Donkey of Eternal Salvation is a wooden ass on wheels. "The horses are kind of flashy, but ultimately they're stationary," the artist says. "I was thinking of the cycles of violence and destruction that human society invariably seems to go through. Now, the donkey, he's small. He's kind of humble. He looks like an old-fashioned pull toy, but he's mobile.
"Maybe how we go forward in a better way is a very simple thing, as opposed to being technology-reliant."
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/arts/four-horsemen-reimagined-for-technological-age-114192369.html
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