Peter Freitag is a Berlin artist who has studied at Hochschule der Kuenste, Berlin and University of Illinois at Chicago. His work has been shown in Europe, the United States and Toronto including at Clementine Gallery, New York; Galerie Stellwerk, Kassel; and Gallery 44, Toronto.
Vancouver author Lee Henderson wrote The Man Game (Viking/Penguin, 2008), The Broken Record Technique (Viking/Penguin, 2002) and his fiction and visual art journalism has been published in numerous journals and magazines. The Man Game has been described as “a portrait of a lost and fanciful city [Vancouver].” The novel is a highly researched, sprawling tale of 19th century frontier-era Vancouver, its inhabitants, wild west politics, racial tension, and a fictional sport known as “the man game.” He is a contributing editor to Border Crossings and Contemporary, and has curated exhibitions in Vancouver and New York. He is the director/curator of Attache Gallery, a portable art gallery that shows emerging artists, and organizes improvised music events.
Kristi Malakoff is a Vancouver artist who recently graduated from Emily Carr Institute. Her work has been shown at the Centre on Contemporary Art, Seattle; Kamloops Art Gallery; and the Butchershop, Vancouver.
Sarah Massecar is a Toronto artist. A recent graduate from the University of Victoria (MFA), her work has been shown across Canada and in the United States at Forest City Gallery, London ON; Western Front, Vancouver; and Soil Art Gallery, Seattle.
PETER FREITAG, KRISTI MALAKOFF, SARAH MASSECAR
April 1–May 6, 2006
Pulling apart ready-made objects, images and modes of production, the artists in Heyday reveal through deconstruction. Using the methods of decoupage and assemblage, the works in the exhibition share concerns regarding manufacture, currency and coining new languages. Peter Freitag works with extant imagery from European resort brochures. Removing all props from the images, Freitag creates populated vignettes in which the staging of a hotel room or the contrived position of a model are eerily foregrounded. Kristi Malakoff creates exquisitely delicate scenes from paper money. For example, she has reconfigured an idyllic three-dimensional cabin from a $100 bill and created a bird series from $2, $5, $10 and $20 bills. Malakoff’s detailed miniatures shift the currency of money, highlighting the idealized images sanctioned to describe nationhood and history. Sarah Massecar deconstructs and reassembles objects, focusing on the labour in re/making. Massecar has investigated the de/reconstruction of a wallet as well as texts that centre on themes of labour and DIY such as Flaubert’s Bouvard et Pecuchet. The dismantling carried out by these three artists potentially reflects the dismantling of a once-thriving capitalist society. After a heyday or period of greatest success or power there is an inevitable decline. Through their processual and conceptual operations, Freitag, Malakoff and Massecar question the present moment and capital’s shifting role.
Artist Talk
PETER FREITAG
April 1, 2006
Artspeak is pleased to present Peter Freitag’s artist talk discussing Heyday; a group exhibition featuring the work of Freitag, Krist Malakoff and Sarah Massecar. Heyday runs from April 1st to May 6th, 2006 at Artspeak.