Mowry Baden

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Mowry Baden, “Cheap Sleeps Columbine,” 1994

mattress, boxspring, pillow, wood, steel, mirror, (collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, gift of the artist)

Victoria sculptor Mowry Baden builds art installations that provoke and disturb our sensory perceptions.

“I’m the son of an architect,” says Baden, whose exhibition of 15 whimsical sculptures is on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery until June 9. “I’m the father of an architect. So architecture runs deep in the family.”

Baden, 83, often uses common materials to create his environments. For instance, with Cheap Sleeps Columbine, he assembles mattresses – “the cheapest I could find” – to create an enclosure reminiscent of a canopy or a garden gazebo.

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Mowry Baden, “Marsupial,” 2013

steel, aluminum, fabric and rubber, installation view (collection of the artist; photo by Mark Alldritt)

Fabric stretched over an aluminum grid defines a phone booth-sized enclosure in Marsupial.

“Think about the title,” he says. “It’s a very significant enclosure, the pouch.” He is referring to the wheelbarrow at the viewer’s feet.

Baden wants us to think about his sculptures, not just look at them. Pulling the viewer into the piece and making them a participant, rather than merely an observer, is a constant theme.

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Mowry Baden with Mark Alldritt, “Calyx,” 2008

steel, aluminum, acrylic, circuitry and motor (Art Gallery of Ontario, gift of Mowry Baden; photo by Bob Matheson)

Calyx, a stainless-steel structure of circuitry, motors and a large concave mirror, is more sophisticated. An overhead sensor determines the viewer’s height, which in turn raises or lowers the mirror to their eye line.

As the mirror finds its sweet spot, the reflection of the viewer and the reflection of the room merge into a single colour field shutting out the surroundings. In this case the sense of enclosure is created by light and reflection rather than a physical space.

“You’ll feel it wrap itself around you,” says Baden.

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Mowry Baden, “Trisector,” 2015

bronze, rubber and stainless steel, installation view (collection of the artist; photo by Mark Alldritt)

Trisector is brilliantly deceptive. Three mop buckets are attached to the three ends of a moveable arm.

“A mop bucket is a four-wheeled deal, right? It’s very lightweight. It becomes very mobile,” says Baden.

But the buckets are bronze, not plastic, which compromises motion.

“It is very heavy and difficult to move,” says Baden, a twinkle in his eye.

It’s a playful piece, but unsettling too, when viewers realize it isn’t quite what they thought it was.

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Mowry Baden, “Tachycardia,” 2016

rubber and stainless steel (collection of Robert Youds and Christine Toller; photo by Mark Alldritt)

A more recent piece, Tachycardia, consists of industrial rubber mats with lugs on one side that are connected by steel rods. It neither moves nor envelops. Nor does it ask the viewer to participate. It just sits there, begging contemplation.

The exhibition spans 1970 to 2016. Although it includes a variety of styles and materials, one thing is constant – all pieces are infused with wit and humour.

When asked what compels him, Baden replies: “If it isn’t funny, don’t do it.” ■

Mowry Baden is on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery from March 9 to June 9, 2019.