Traces – César Damián
Residency dates: August 1st – September 2nd, 2016
Columbia Basin Culture Tour: August 13 & 14 from 10am – 5pm – Open studio
Artist talk: August 13th, 2016 at 4pm
Discussion: August 27th at 4pm about FRONDA (Mexican Artist Collective)
Opening reception: September 2nd, 2016 from 7-9pm
Exhibition dates: September 7th – October 1st, 2016
Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Saturday 1-5pm
Culture Days Event: Sunday, October 2nd, 2016 at 4pm – Closing Reception and Talk
The Oxygen Art Centre is excited to be hosting Mexican artist, César Damián as the artist in residence for the month of August. Damián is a visual artist who uses photography as a departure point for the creation of experimental installations. He is also an editor and cultural promoter with a specific interest in public art projects and community engagement. Damián will spend the month of August working on a project he calls “Traces” in which he will be exploring the elements of wind and water. As part of the project, he will also be seeking community engagement in the creation of a time capsule and as models for his interest in portraiture. At the end of his residency, Damián will install his work in an exhibition that will run throughout the month of September at the Oxygen Art Centre.
In the project “Traces”, César Damián’s will be continuing his long time interest in the topic of migration. The artist sees migration as a nexus for exploring both the external movement of people across borders and his own internal transformations. The artist says that through his work he is able to explore key symbolic ramifications of migration such as memory, place, displacement, identity and ultimately fear and death. These universal topics form the focus of his current work. Particular to this residency, the artist will look at “place as an emotional state” choosing to explore this aspect through the emotive mediums of wind and water. While here Damián hopes to do some outdoor pieces as well as an installation in the gallery. Damián uses technological formats that are highly evocative – appealing to the viewers sensory channels in a way which bring forth tender moments in the human journey for the viewer to experience and make sense of in relationship to their own migrations! There will be several opportunities throughout his residency to meet the artist, discuss his work and even to be part of his work.
César Damián is the founder of FRONDA, a non-profit organization whose mandate is to promote artistic discipline in rural and urban spaces with an interest in cross-cultural and disciplinary exchanges between Mexico and Canada. He has studied art and technology both in Mexico and the United States as well as participated in numerous cultural exchanges in such diverse places as England and Argentina. He has received prizes and fellowships for his work including those granted by the Fondo Estatal para la Cultura y las Artes de Hidalgo and the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (FONCA). He received honorable mention in the 6th Photojournalism Biennial Mexico 2005 and was selected for the Calgary-Banff Photography Festival 2007 in Canada and at the Festival de la Luz 2012 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. César Damián is currently living and working in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico. (cesardamian.com)
The Oxygen Art Centre will be participating in this year’s Columbia Basin Culture Tour on August 13th and 14th from 10am to 5pm. Damián will give a talk about his work on Saturday, August 13th at 4pm and on Saturday, August 27th at 4pm Damián will lead a discussion about the Mexican artist collective FRONDA The Centre will be hosting an opening reception for the artist on Friday, September 2nd from 7-9pm, to launch his exhibition, “Traces”. The exhibition will run from September 7th to October 1st with the gallery open Wednesday to Saturday from 1-5pm. On Sunday, October 2nd at 4pm the centre will host a Culture Days event with a closing reception and talk by artist and curator Maggie Shirley.
Oxygen Art Centre gratefully acknowledges support for this programming from British Columbia Arts Council, Province of British Columbia, Canada Council for the Arts and Columbia Basin Trust.
Photo: Linda Ross-Marlena Bucholtz
