Imaginary Standard Distance

Additional Information

Allyson Clay Untitled II, self-portrait (detail), 1997, cibachrome transparency, fluorescent lights, vinyl text

Allyson Clay: Imaginary Standard Distance incorporates several bodies of work by this artist and a range of mediums. The exhibition begins from the point at which Clay moved away from painting and into more narrative and text-based works, a strategy to interject everyday experience into the heroic art tradition. The works are intended to act as a dialogue over time, revealing consistent strategies and concerns related to identity, gender politics, lived architecture, and the boundaries between public and private space. The title Imaginary Standard Distance is taken from a phrase in E.H. Gombrich's book Art and Illusion, from a section dealing with formal perspective and the tendency to see the world in relation to what we know. It is used here for its poetic potential to encourage the imagination in relation to standard assumptions about meaning, particularly as they relate to social space, gender identity, and the history of imaging. The works make room for idiosyncrasies and personal associations. Allyson Clay lives in Vancouver and is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Simon Fraser University. While in Regina, Clay will be presenting a lecture and conducting studio visits at the University of Regina and participating in an artist salon