Early Monthly Segments is pleased to present the films of Victoria-based artist Sandra Meigs concurrent with her exhibition of paintings at Susan Hobbs Gallery and Georgia Scherman Projects. As a painter steeped in philosophy and narrative forms, filmmaking became a natural extension to her art practice and film elements often appear in her installations.
The films in this programme date from Meigs’ time in Halifax and Toronto in the early eighties, coupled with a recent video shot in her husband’s Seattle bar a few weeks before his passing. Her films resonate with reoccurring motifs of rituals, archetypes and purgatories— boxing matches, cowboys and barrooms. Often a text is at play, either written on screen or spoken in dense narration—projecting a subtle doubling of subjectivity as in The Western Gothic where the he and the I become interchangeable in Meigs’ recounting of nursing a wounded cowboy or in The Pale Omnipresent Persistent Persistence where a still photograph of crocodiles opens the question of who is on which side of the cage. The films are fluid, playful and disturbing—complementing her painterly investigations into psychological states.
Note: The Basement Panoramas continue at Susan Hobbs Gallery and Georgia Scherman Projects until March 1, 2014. 133 and 137 Tecumseth Street. Wed-Sat 11-5
Programme:
Aphasia (Caught in the Act), 1981, Canada, 16mm, 4 min
The Pale Omnipresent Persistent Persistence, Sandra Meigs, 1978, Canada, Super 8, 15 min.
The Western Gothic, Sandra Meigs, 1984, Canada, 16mm, 5 min.
Purgatorio. A Drinkingbout, Sandra Meigs, 1981, Canada, 16mm, 11 min.
The Reading Gaol, Sandra Meigs, 2011, Canada, video, 6.5 min.
@ Gladstone Hotel, Ballroom | 1214 Queen St West
Monday February 17, 2014 | 8:00 PM screening | $5-10 suggested donation
Special thanks to Sandra Meigs, Susan Hobbs and Georgia Scherman
EMS #61 = March 17 = 5th Anniversary Screening!