THE YOUNG
Carlos et Jason Sanchez
Opening on Thursday, November 20 at 6 p.m.
The exhibition runs from November 20 to December 20, 2003.
Artist Talk sponsored by Concordia University Studio Arts Visiting Artist
Program
Tuesday, October 14 at 12:30 p.m. at the Visual Arts Building, Room VA-210,
1395 René-Lévesque West.
Using a cinematic approach, Carlos and Jason Sanchez create photographs that invite us to speculate on the psychological state of the subjects within the narrative. Like all good cinematographers, the brothers sift through prop houses, scout locations, build sets and cast just the right characters to furnish and populate their eerie habitats.
The duo's earlier interest in lurid tales of murder, theft and drugs, as witnessed in the series, Model Citizens (2002) has evolved. From the straightforward narratives of flawed adults, the artists have moved to their current series, The Young, a more subtle investigation of the emotions, imaginations and desires of children. The large-format prints provide hyperrealistic settings where young and disrupted minds play out their fantasies and feelings. In Principles, a complex look at power relationships, a teen-aged girl stands behind an older man who is seated at his big, old-boys-club desk. She leans forward over the back of his executive leather chair to touch his head. A bottle of scotch sits on the desk within easy reach, not far from the plaque that announces that he is Mr. Hal Vincent, Principal. Behind every great man...
Another piece, Easter Party, makes the leap from photography to film. In it, a boy stands blindfolded before the family's traditional Easter piñata -a lamb- ready to beat the candy out of it. The camera cuts away to show the smiling faces of family members - little sister, grandpa, the aunties. When it returns to our protagonist, there is blood on the fuzzy white cotton of the sacrificial piñata; it leaks out to form a great pool on the shiny wooden floor. In the following scene, the camera pulls out from a close-up on his face to reveal candy on the floor and the fun-loving relatives still in place, exposing the youth's tortured fantasy, as well as the veneer of a happy family life.