Joe Bérubé
 
VANCOUVER WORK
2012
studies for Amphora
2011
Assigning Space
Shell
Lean Exteriors
Boundary: it was like this or it is how I remember it anyway
untitled
2010
island studies
The Possibility of an Island
The Garden of Inconsistent Realites
kaleidoscopes
Inventory of an Island
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DETROIT WORK
TEXTS
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studies for Amphora
2012; paint, glass; 6.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 cm to 3.5 x 3 x 4.5 cm.
 
 
 
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Assigning Space
2011; acrylic and oil on wood, oil on canvas; dimensions vary between 2 x 2 x 76 cm to 5 x 5 x 366 cm.
The installation "Assigning Space" is an installation installed in a group exhibition. The sticks are positioned in locations that fringe upon the implied territorial delimitations of other artists.
 
 
 
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Shell
2011; all the paintings I've ever loved stuck together like a taco, blue glo-stick; 33 x 25 x 18 cm.
 
 
 
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Lean Exteriors
2011; acrylic and oil on wood; dimensions and durations variable.
 
Approximately fifty painted sticks installed on the exteriors of buildings. The sticks were simply leaned against surfaces, unfastened in urban areas. I would pass by the installation sites, and sometimes I would discover that a few sticks had disappeared, but often I would find them exactly where I had left them. Occasionally I would unhappily find one missing, and then spot it a few blocks away in a new location (still leaned!).
 
 
 
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Boundary: It was like this, or it is how I remember it anyway
2011; HD video projection; 9:00 minutes.
 
 
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untitled
2011; various materials
 
 
 
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island studies
2010; oil on canvas; interior dimensions 20 x 25 cm, exterior 30 x 35 cm.
 
 
 
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The Possibility of an Island
2010; oil on canvases, sticks; 152 x 178 x 17 cm, and 152 x 279 x 17 cm.
 

October 21, 2010, Vancouver

Utopia for me is the idea of an unknown island. It is true that current technologies and popular opinions suggest that unknown islands probably do not exist, but I'm not about to let that stop me from believing (and I have found some hints and clues). I have decided to carefully map what my unknown island may look like, and I feel with each iteration of island outline I am more certain of its existence. I realize I can only paint the outline of my island. I wish I could paint detailed palms, ferns and beaches, caves and pools, perhaps a few gardens and a long wooden dock, but I would almost certainly paint these elements the wrong colours, the wrong sizes, in the wrong numbers and in the wrong places. Or if they were right for me today, I know I would feel differently about it tomorrow. So I paint an outline of an island, over and over and over again, choosing my paints, mixing my colours, and often now, no longer really thinking about utopia at all.
 
 
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The Garden of Inconsistent Realities
2010; HD video projection; 3:50 minutes.
 

A fixed frame video view into a small beach garden, sometimes fragmented by a taleidoscope.

 
 
 
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kaleidoscopes
2010, kiosk printed colour photographs; dimensions variable.
 
 
 
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Inventory of an Island
2010 - ongoing; 100 found objects.
 
 
 
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