Emily Jan
The Main Gallery . January 26 – February 24, 2017
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 26, from 7 pm – 10 pm
Harcourt House Artist Run Centre, 3rd floor, 10215 – 112 St, EdmontonJan’s installation “After The Hunt” features a three-dimensional life-sized tableau based upon the visual language of 17th century Dutch still-life paintings. The installation is a cheeky nod to the painting of the 17th century Dutch painter Franz Snijders titled “Game Still Life with a Roe Deer” (circa 1630). it combines elements of post-hunt still life paintings with their contemporary genres of floral, banquet, little breakfast, and vanitas genres into one sprawling staging that provides commentary on the excess of modern society, both materially – through accretion of labour and matter – and, conceptually – by referencing the ’embarrassment of riches’ for which the Dutch Golden Age was known: riches acquired through the era’s expended trade routes and colonial conquests.
Emily Jan is a Montreal-based multi-media artist, scenographer and writer. Originally from Oakland, California, Jan has traveled to 35 countries and lived in four, including South Africa and Mexico. Her biophilic sculptures and installations combine everyday found objects with meticulously worked raw materials to evoke faraway and the fantastical. As a wanderer, naturalist, and collector of objects and experiences, she is guided in her work by the spirit of exploration, kinship, and curiosity. Jan holds an MFA from Concordia University (2014), a BA with Honours from Brown University (2000), and a BFA with High Distinction from the California College of Arts (2009). She has exhibited nationally and internationally, and has recently returned from an artist’s residence in Denali National Park in Alaska. Her work can be seen in upcoming exhibitions in Edmonton, Hamilton, and the Fiberart International Triennial in Pittsburgh, USA, to name just a few.
