UWHAH: Prequel
November 7 to 29, 2008
Raymond Boisjoly
Mark Dudiak
Robert Niven
Erica Stocking
Ron Tran
Arvo Leo
Guest curated by Until We Have A Helicopter
In tune with its mandate to host a space for independent curators to show and create, Gallery Atsui was very please to have Wes Cameron and Matthew Robertson of Until We Have A Helicopter (UWHAH) as its first guest curators.
Wes Cameron and Matthew Robertson continued their work in a dimension between artist and curator with this latest exhibition: UWHAH: Prequel. Artists were invited to work with UWHAH, in order to create an exhibition about UWHAH.
The mythology behind the collaborative entity •Until We Have A Helicopter• was entrusted to seven adaptable artists familiar with its practice. The artists worked with and against UWHAH to produce an ad-hoc, multi-faceted narrative in a variety of media, creating an imagined history of UWHAH.
Wes Cameron and Matthew Robertson formed Until We Have A Helicopter in 2005 in order to have their operation of Lobby Gallery identified as a project-based artwork by a collaborative entity. While facilitating site-specific installations in the lobby of Vancouver’s Dominion Hotel they looked on the venture with an “if you build it, they will come” attitude. By erecting and lighting a large white wall, they established a starting point for artists to consider the possibilities and complications of the unique, semi-public exhibition opportunity.
UWHAH continues to plan, and realize by invitation, site-specific projects in a variety of settings, both public and private, indoor and outdoor.