I WASN'T PAYING ATTENTION AND NOW IT'S OVER
Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber
The Cube
January 12 to March 23, 2019
Curated by Craig Willms, Assistant Curator, Kamloops Art Gallery
Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber are Winnipeg-based artists who work collaboratively to create paintings, drawings and text-based work. In 2008, Dumontier and Farber began working as a duo, meeting regularly, listening to records and making collaborative drawings, following a successful period working collaboratively with the larger artist collective The Royal Art Lodge.
The artists' imagery and texts are generated primarily through a call and response approach wherein paintings and drawings serve as the catalyst for the text. Writing has become increasingly the focus for the two artists; they often generate multiple texts before deciding on the final work. Using humour as a key device, the result of this collaborative process is a fusion of imagery and text layered with absurd narratives and dark humour. Their work is influenced by Surrealist language and methodologies, and often utilizes word play in reference to pop culture, past and present. Through their democratic approach to art making, the artists invite opportunity for open creative possibilities based on extensive dialogue.
The exhibition, I wasn’t paying attention and now it’s over, features Dumontier and Farber’s collaborative paintings and small print editions, as well as their ongoing series of Library paintings and Typing editions. The Library paintings began in 2009 and consist of thousands of book paintings that continue to grow with every exhibition. Book covers and spines reveal fictional titles displayed in a large grid, consisting of a vast collection of questions, absurd phrases and punchlines. The viewing experience is similar to perusing the shelves of a wall-sized library.
The Typing series consists of two different prints, one featuring a woman and the other featuring a man, seated in front of a typewriter with a large blank page encompassing most of the frame. The print is then put through a typewriter where the artists write letters and captions and create typed imagery. Typical of their collaborative practice as a whole, these projects generously open up to the input and output of each artist.
Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber
Library (detail), 2018
acrylic and pen on MDF
variable dimensions
