Grier Edmundson

A snake in the grass
10.16–11.22.2014
Room 1

Each of Grier Edmunson’s exhibition projects becomes a new chapter in the artist’s practice, thanks in part to the reintroduction of elements he re-contextualizes. Such is the case, for example, with Andy Warhol’s Brillo soap boxes, a reference used by Edmunson in his exhibition The Text is Plural, presented at Battat Contemporary in 2013. This time at CLARK, plaster boxes with smooth white surfaces evoke Warhol’s emblematic piece. The common thread within Edmunson’s work is undoubtedly his questioning of copyright and intellectual property in the context of the commodification of art, but he also points to the narrow line that separates the original and the copy.

With Un serpent dans la pelouse, a literal translation of the expression “a snake in the grass”, an idiom that refers to a deceitful person who at first seems harmless, Edmunson looks at how business interests interfere with various aspects of our lives and, intrinsically, the artist’s own life. As a producer of artworks, that is, of objects that have commercial value, how does the artist position himself within this system? How does one attribute economic value to an artwork? Who has the power to do so?

To illustrate his point, Edmunson has created a series of seven paintings that reproduce cards from the property-trading board game Monopoly. With these paintings, the artist creates a counterpoint to the mechanical reproduction of the cards by focusing on the materiality of the paint. Edmunson also presents a sort of counterfeit version of Mr. Monopoly, with empty pockets. This motif is repeated on the gallery walls in a kind of wallpaper pattern, and will be available for download on the artist’s website, thereby subverting the idea of profit in favour of open access. The artist has also reproduced a portrait of Thomas Malthus (1766-1834), an English economist known for his writings on the control of population growth in times of full economic development. Malthus put forward the idea that all economic activity is driven by demand, not supply.

Through installation, a method regularly favoured by the artist, Grier Edmunson addresses various questions about the role of business within society. Using his own condition as an example, he demonstrates what it represents in terms of investment (in money, time, etc.) compared to what it returns, therefore critiquing all forms of speculation, but particularly as it relates to art and property.

– Manon Tourigny / translation : Jo-Anne Balcaen

Download Le serpent dans la pelouse wallpaper (PDF)