All Images Are Unstable

Claire Harvie

Opening reception May 6, 6:308:30pm

Exhibition continues May 630

Alliance Franaise Gallery

24 Spadina Rd

Toronto

Hours: MonThu 9:306:30pm, Fri 9:304pm

This exhibition explores the connections between perception, language, and memory. Sparked by a friendly disagreement over the true colour of the Golden Gate Bridge during a visit to San Francisco, Claire Harvie began an expansive and unconventional investigation. Her research took her on a winding path from a standardized colour called International Orange, to the construction and history of the Golden Gate Bridge, to darkroom experiments in chromatype printing.

The chromatype is a photographic print that remains lightsensitive even after the image has been fixed. The finished print is chemically unstable, and darkens over time to a rustred hue, if left exposed to light. Harvies studies in this process are integral to her research on colour subjectivity. Foregrounding the artists process of inquiry, All Images Are Unstable comprises two bodies of photographic prints: one sequence of chromatypes using original text, and an arrangement of prints and text made from found images and literary sources. Harvies exhibition references the personal subjectivity of colour and the shortcomings of language to describe the nuances of visual experience. The instability of the chromatype prints highlights the fugitive qualities of history, playfully hinting at the limitations of absolute knowledge.

Claire Harvie b. 1986 is currently pursuing a B.F.A. in Photography at Ryerson University. Her photographic work focuses on the slow reveal of longer narratives within fragmented forms. Claires artistic practice increasingly makes use of text and often engages in collaboration with other artists and with a variety of existing image archives. All Images Are Unstable is Claires current project that will be presented through Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival & Alliance Franaise in May. Recent collaborations with musicians Robin Dann and Phillipe Melanson lead to a live image and sound performance as part of The Music Gallerys Emergents series in early 2015.

Presented in partnership with Alliance Franaise Toronto and Ryerson School of Image Arts.

Organized by Elena Potter.