Saturday, May 5, 2012

Photos from the Opening Reception of Nancy Oakes and Adrienne Trent at Loop Gallery

loop Gallery is fragrant with the scent of pine from the current installation by loop member Adrienne Trent called Ground Classification: Without a Trace. Inspired by the children's book "Paddle-to-the-sea" by C. Holling, this installation sets up a poetic, and at the same time actual representation of a catastrophe. An ancient handmade canoe with large holes in the bottom becomes a survival kit/getaway vessel. The boat is packed with obsolete and some state-of-the-art equipment for survival against the elements (both natural and human created) and is oriented towards the St. Lawrence Seaway awaiting its imminent escape.

Gallery Guests watching Adrienne Trent's video

Canoe installation by Adrienne Trent


Adrienne Trent and friends
In the back part of the gallery, Nancy Oakes presents Walking Drawings, a series she began in 2006 where she navigates the city streets while simultaneously producing drawings that captured her lived experience as it happened. Later enhanced with graphite, and stained with tea and wax, the final drawings are believable urban scenes composed of elements encountered separately over time and space. This experiential peripatetic strategy exists at the intersection of all four of Oakes’ key interests: human beings, the urban environment, walking, and drawing.

Gallery visitor admires Nancy Oakes drawings


Nancy Oakes and friend