2018
Pink Champagne
Solo Exhibtion. Temporary public art installation made during the WRECK CITY residency in Calgary (Canada).
David, central component of Pink Champagne (2018). Working fountain ; Tinted glycerine, swimming pool vinyl, water, chip board, glass, acrylic, copper pipe and plumbing fixtures, steel, silicone & pump ; 144 x 120 x 96”. Photographs courtesy of Diane & Mike Photography, and Keeghan Rouleau.
Installed in what was once a French patisserie in Calgary’s SE quarter, this gutted commercial space became the site for Laura Hudspith’s Pink Champagne installation across July and August of 2018. Hudspith began her work having encountered the space in a partially demolished state: marble countertops and classic checkered tile remained in stark contrast to peeling vinyl, revealing the artifice of exposed brick. With an interest in parsing the ethics of abundance, Hudspith’s Pink Champagne played on the architectural dichotomies of the space as she found it.
A large fountain holds the hall's center, as framed by an aqueous video projection from behind. The space is enshrined: rippling waters combine with the faint audio emanating from the projection to create a spa-like atmosphere. Reminiscent of statues of antiquity, a pair of muscular legs stand in contrapposto within the bounds of a personal pool in David. Surrounding sculptures temper the scene, playfully adapting the character’s heroic lore, each bodily element cast in the same soluble material: glyercine. To the fountain’s right, an outstretched arm raises a teal pool noodle in The Sling, while a hand offers champagne, fruit, and pastries in Secret Weapon in the opposite corner. The bather’s indulgences, however, are seasoned with antidotes. Clear waters thicken with milky soap scum, as the David of this domain is eroded.
Amarus Ends
Amarus Ends (2018). Modular, sculptural still life that breaks apart into an edition of ten. Resin & acrylic mirror ; 30 x 16 x 4.75”. Photographs courtesy of Tamara Legér.
Strewn haphazardly across a mirrored plane lays the remnants of an extravagant meal left to fester. An assortment of emptied oysters sit piled, their little spills and dribbles marking the surface below. The entrée’s exhausted accoutrements dot the scene. Lemon wedges, pinched rinds and tiny utensils are scattered about; a drunk cocktail stands as tall as the mound, another, broken and spilling its dregs into the array; cigarettes, butted out post-meal into the husks. A small pile of maraschino stems from a Manhattan overstuffed, provides a clue towards the title of the work. Each object makes its materiality known–clear resin derived from the pressure of millennia–oysters cast in wretched permanence see their reflection below in refracted light.
Lorem Ipsum
Solo exhibition. Accompanying text “Towards Dolorem Ipsum” by Morris Fox here
Cornucopia 2018, (2018) from Lorem Ipsum. The artist would like to acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario. Photographs by Brittany Carmichael and the artist.
Lorem Ipsum (2018). Installation :
A Blue and Yellow Period. HD video ; 00:03:22 hr. duration ; Videography by Tamara Léger.
Kneel. Mixed media audience direction installation ; Neon, glass, resin, readymade & film tape ; Dimensions variable
Bad Ombré. Interactive (edible) installation ; Acrylic, gelatine, food colouring & vodka ; 72 x 3.5 x 26.5"
Lorem Ipsum. Inkjet print on cocktail napkins ; Edition of a hundred ; 3.75 x 3.75"
Cornucopia 2018. Inkjet on canvas backdrop, resin, silicone, acrylic, glycerine, found objects, paint, wood, faux turf and flora, gum, concrete & vinyl; 96 x 90 x 96"
Bad Ombré (2018)
Kneel (2018)