Immovable Objects, Unstoppable Force

Opening

First presented at the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie in early 2018, this exhibition spotlights the inherent tensions that lie between the handmade, the industrial, and the natural. Lasserre’s works offer up endless narratives, outcomes, and catastrophes that unfurl far beyond the sculptures themselves – presenting alternative and unexpected consequences to situations we may have otherwise taken for granted. 

Tension and hyperbole are further fossilized into the works by a material alchemy – a piano is secretly steel, wood becomes as fluid as rope, birds and spiders reveal an industrial hydraulic strength. True to its title, Lasserre’s exhibition of carved and welded vignettes face off against themselves and the viewers’ preconceptions of subject and material. Immovable Objects, Unstoppable Force examines the literal and figurative weight of such collisions, exploring the rich possibilities that can unfold in any scenario. 

The outcome of these confrontations call into question the prevailing physics and truths of this imagined world. In regards to Lasserre’s work, Writer and Critic Rachel Anne Farquharson comments “this exhibition is the story of not only curiosity, but also of the limits of science and the science of creativity’s limits… The sparring between truth and fiction.” Convincing of their factuality, the anatomical sketches and scientific renderings in this exhibition evoke the austerity of a methodical and empirical impulse. The variations of imagined outcomes demonstrate the artist’s deep engagement with the mechanics of energy and forces in the natural world – allegories of anxieties and uncertainties of our post-truth political climate.

Maskull Lasserre (Calgary, 1978) spent his formative years in South Africa. He holds a BFA in Visual Art and Philosophy (Mount Allison University), and an MFA (Concordia University).
Maskull’s exhibitions include Banksy’s Dismaland, and Swept Away (Museum of Art and Design, New York). His visiting artist positions include those at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the Canadian Armed Forces Artists Programme (Afghanistan). His work appears on Canadian coinage and is represented in collections in Canada and abroad including at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art, the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, and Canadian War Museum. Upcoming projects include a major sculptural work for the Vancouver Biennale 2018-2020.