max dean performance

Max Dean

January 8 to 31, 2009
Reception for the artist: Thursday January 8, 6 to 8pm
Artist talk: 7pm
Saw Box performance: 6:30, 7:00 and 7:30 pm





As visual artists, we put something in a room and we walk away from it. I wanted to extend the viewing experience. I see these things fundamentally as an idea and secondly as a machine. – Max Dean

This first exhibition of Max Dean at Nicholas Metivier Gallery surveys over twenty works from 1971 to 2008. Dean, known for the Robotic Chair, uses boxes, tools and furniture as extensions of the body. Many of the works are interactive and respond to the participation of the viewer; some involve other senses such as sound and touch. The handmade quality of the works confounds a straightforward reading as machine, inviting us to explore and experience ideas of agency, trust, and control.

The opening reception features a ONE NIGHT ONLY screening of "Mist", three performances of "Saw Box" and a talk by Dean at 7pm.

Max Dean’s work was exhibited at the 49th Venice Biennale and is in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

http://www.metiviergallery.com/exhibition.php?exhibition=dean_2008

http://www.roboticchair.com/


Nicholas Metivier Gallery
451 King Street West
Toronto, ON. M5V 1K4
416-205-9000