SNEAK PEEK: Roy Caussy

×

Expand

Roy Caussy, “The King is Dead …,” 2020, mixed media, installation view (photo courtesy  Art Gallery of Alberta)

Roy Caussy’s striking installation is a lament, both sympathetic and celebratory, to the fading power of the Baby Boom generation. 

Installed at the Art Gallery of Alberta, but shuttered for more than two months due to the coronavirus pandemic, The King is Dead … gains relevance amidst the current crisis for its marking of a waning generation whose youthful idealism ebbed into the excesses of global capitalism.

“By creating a monument to mark the end of the Boomer generation’s power, I’m also hoping to mark an end to blindly following along harmful paths and to begin to conceive of healthier futures,” says Caussy. “That is the importance of marking an end to something: it allows space for new ideas to grow, and the Boomers have taken up a lot of space.”

His installation is contemplative, but also complex as it is rife with allusions to both the spiritual and the mundane, whether a Mickey Mouse cap or the Venus de Milo. 

×

Expand

Roy Caussy, “The King is Dead …,” 2020, mixed media, installation view (photo courtesy  Art Gallery of Alberta)

It is dominated by bell-shaped, vaguely humanoid porcelain slip-cast shells streaked and dripped in purple hues that refer to the evening sky. Stacked on a tiered wooden platform, they take on the air of holy figures at Hindu and Buddhist temples. 

“I have these very beautiful memories from childhood of seeing these old, crumbling temples scattered throughout Southeast Asia, and then returning to my Western upbringing in Hamilton, typified by my immigrant, Indian diaspora, home life,” Caussy, now based in Medicine Hat, Alta., says in an online conversation with curator Lindsey Sharman. 

“I guess, in a way, it’s just something that’s in my wheelhouse, through both exposure and upbringing.  So, as I started to formulate my ideas for this work, in which I knew I would be discussing societal structures, I knew I wanted the work to have an architectural feel, as a way to imply that these structures are built environments.” ■ 

The King is Dead … was scheduled to run from March 7 to June 14, 2020 at the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton. The gallery, closed since March 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic, will reopen to the public on June 11. Check the gallery's website to confirm the new closing date for Caussy's show.

PS: Worried you missed something? See previous Galleries West stories here or sign up for our free biweekly newsletter.

Want to share a sneak peek? Send a photo and some information to editor@gallerieswest.ca. If we're able to publish it, we'll get back to you.