Opening and Reception for Louis Helbig and "A Beautiful Destruction": Thursday 10th December, 6.00pm to 8.00pm in the Upstairs Gallery.
A solo exhibition and sale of large format aerial photographs.
Last year, Louis and his partner Kristin Reimer hop-scotched across Canada in a 1946 Luscombe single propeller aeroplane.
The goal and destination was fort McMurray and the Alberta Tar Sands.
The title of this show echoes W.B.Yeats' phrase: "A terrible beauty is born", when writing of the 1916 Easter Uprising in Dublin. What Louis and Kristin discovered, from on high, were views that were almost unbelievable and overwhelming in their intensity.
As Louis writes, "The Alberta tar Sands are a place of superlatives, a place of awesome beauty and destruction, where exaggeration of scale seems almost impossible. Leaving aside the politics that surround them or their technical specifics, the Tar sands are simply awe-inspiring. With every twis and turn of the airplane another incredible scene presents itself, followed by another. It's a linear kaleidoscope of contrasts, colours and patterns garnished by the movement of machinery below."
This collection is an important artistic statement that is captivating, stunning and edgy. This will be moving to larger venues, so come and support your neighbour (Louis and Kristin live in Ottawa) and a show that has national and even global significance. Up until 6th January 2010.
The goal and destination was fort McMurray and the Alberta Tar Sands.
The title of this show echoes W.B.Yeats' phrase: "A terrible beauty is born", when writing of the 1916 Easter Uprising in Dublin. What Louis and Kristin discovered, from on high, were views that were almost unbelievable and overwhelming in their intensity.
As Louis writes, "The Alberta tar Sands are a place of superlatives, a place of awesome beauty and destruction, where exaggeration of scale seems almost impossible. Leaving aside the politics that surround them or their technical specifics, the Tar sands are simply awe-inspiring. With every twis and turn of the airplane another incredible scene presents itself, followed by another. It's a linear kaleidoscope of contrasts, colours and patterns garnished by the movement of machinery below."
This collection is an important artistic statement that is captivating, stunning and edgy. This will be moving to larger venues, so come and support your neighbour (Louis and Kristin live in Ottawa) and a show that has national and even global significance. Up until 6th January 2010.
