Natural History

Catherine Beaudette, David Liss, Juno Youn
August 28 to October 3, 2004.
64 Steps Gallery, 1164 Queen St. West, Toronto.

64 Steps Gallery is pleased to present Natural History a thematic group exhibition featuring recent works by Toronto artists Catherine Beaudette, David Liss and Juno Youn.

Beaudette's Field Guide Paintings are inspired by the natural world. Working from sources like botanical textbooks, field guides and encyclopedias, images of frogs, snakes and fish are reconfigured and re-contextualized to form abstract patterns and markings. New images are thus fabricated from existing knowledge and information, challenging the myth of the new. The artist is drawn to the wonder of what already exists.

For this exhibition Liss presents a selection of small watercolours from an ongoing, untitled series. The imagery for these intimate works is loosely based on images found in botanical and anatomical atlases, and also from nature and the artist's imagination. The imagery, and the process of its invention, is intended by the artist to be a representation of a meta/physical link between art, nature and science.

Juno Youn bases his mixed media works on his study of Chinese astrology, an ancient systematic process of discovery - based on animal signs and numerology - that links history to the present and future, and people to nature and to each other. Youn has scratched earth branch numbers and the dates or years of the animal symbols into the surface of each drawing enabling the viewer to chart and analyze their own history and relationship to nature and the universe.

Juno Youn studied art at OCAD with Catherine Beaudette. Under his alias DJ Boom Boom he can be found spinning vinyl at The Drake Hotel every Tuesday night. Catherine Beaudette owns an amazing oceanfront home and studio in Newfoundland. David Liss also produces collaborative artworks with his daughters Eva, four and half years old, and Leni, age two. The artists wish to thank Dufflet Pastries, Digitime Print and Graphics and Tiger Beer for their support.

Information: 64 Steps Gallery 416-535-7837