Transparencies of the artist’s photos of urban renovations directly in front of the gallery create spatio-temporal illusions, questioning the notion of continual change-social, philosophical, political- common to all cultures throughout the ages.
« Rondeau’s photographic works, which bear the same title of rue Elgin as the overall exhibition, offer us a colourful panorama of demolition equipment at work, mounds of dark earth and unnamed metal objects. Shot one summer afternoon through the very windows that they now cover, the photos were taken while street construction was still taking place. These images serve to collide past and present.
Like a veil, these works overlay our memory and an urban history onto the now changed landscape outside. When viewed inside looking out, the transparent sheets interrupt our view of what is now a snowy streetscape with the luminous images of activity that took place months ago.
Conversely, when these photographs are viewed from the street, they create the optical illusion of a reflection in the windows, mirroring the vista behind, but from a different time. The aware viewer and unsuspecting passerby will experience the reflected ghosts of Elgin’s recent past. »
Excerpt from the article GNO tackles art of Elgin Street, by Bill Huffman, Saturday, January 12, 2002
Cheryl Rondeau
Cheryl Rondeau is a visual artist who works with both still and moving imagery to transform moments of transition and quotidian into the monumental with the intent of exposing influences and mechanics that mediate representation and identity. Her practice can mimic investigative scientific method, embrace the thievery of appropriation or inhabit the role of storyteller – in all cases, she collects, isolates and extracts specific gestures and moments constructing an intermix of the real and fabricated. Her visual arrangements are rhythmic compilations of repetition and mimicry creating images of ambivalence and agency. Born in St. Catharines (Canada), Rondeau studied photography and video at the Ontario College of Art (Toronto) and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social/Cultural Anthropology from the University of Toronto. Her work has been included in exhibitions and festivals internationally including Festival international du film sur l’art (Montreal, Québec) Mediawave International Festival of Visual Arts (Gyor, Hungary), Scope Art Fair (New York City) and Museum of Modern Art (Bogota, Colombia). Rondeau is co-founder (with Mercedes Cueto and Darlene Naponse) of the Elements Collective.
Artist Profile