A way out of the mirror
was found by the image
that realized its existence
was only…
a stranger completely like myself
—Allen Ginsberg, excerpt from “Laughing Gas,” from Kaddish and Other Poems (1958-1960)
Unknown Photographer (Collision), 1955
archives of the artist
The story of my project for Venice begins with these unpublished press photographs from 1955. They depict a collision between a train and a lumber truck halted by a railway crossing sign. There are planks scattered across the foreground and in one of the images, an unidentified boy poses with a half-eaten apple looking stiffly towards the horizon.
I was holding a copy of Howl, the epic poem by Allen Ginsberg, at the time I received the photographs. I was in my studio reading about the San Francisco Art Institute students who had organized the poem’s first reading on 7 October 1955. I had been an SFAI student myself in 1991. I was 24 years old and I heard Ginsberg sing Father Death Blues, which rattled me. It was also when I first learned about the Venice Biennale. I discovered a copy of a 1970 artscanada magazine about Michael Snow in the school’s library. I somehow thought that if I went back to that moment of discovery I might find something. I found Allen Ginsberg and the memory of a poem he recited.
I mention all of this because the absent figure in the photographs, beside the photographer, is my grandfather Victor, who walked away from the accident only to die a few months later. But I never knew that, or anything about the accident, or anything about him, until these images arrived in my inbox, sent to me by my sister Elizabeth, on 14 April 2016 at 6:24PM.
But this isn’t entirely true. I somehow knew the photographs intimately; the impact of the collision had been passed down through my family without us being aware of it. A shape created by absence, by rage, by unspoken trauma and grief.
1 of 10
Geoffrey Farmer, "A way out of the mirror," 2017
Installation view at the Canada Pavilion for the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2017. © Geoffrey Farmer, Courtesy of the artist. Photo : Francesco Barasciutti
2 of 10
Geoffrey Farmer, "A way out of the mirror," 2017
Installation view at the Canada Pavilion for the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2017. © Geoffrey Farmer, Courtesy of the artist. Photo : Francesco Barasciutti
3 of 10
Geoffrey Farmer, "A way out of the mirror," 2017
Installation view at the Canada Pavilion for the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2017. © Geoffrey Farmer, Courtesy of the artist. Photo : Francesco Barasciutti
4 of 10
Geoffrey Farmer, "A way out of the mirror," 2017
Installation view at the Canada Pavilion for the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2017. © Geoffrey Farmer, Courtesy of the artist. Photo : Francesco Barasciutti
5 of 10
Geoffrey Farmer, "A way out of the mirror," 2017
Installation view at the Canada Pavilion for the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2017. © Geoffrey Farmer, Courtesy of the artist. Photo : Francesco Barasciutti
6 of 10
Geoffrey Farmer, "A way out of the mirror," 2017
Installation view at the Canada Pavilion for the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2017. © Geoffrey Farmer, Courtesy of the artist. Photo : Francesco Barasciutti
7 of 10
Geoffrey Farmer, "A way out of the mirror," 2017
Installation view at the Canada Pavilion for the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2017. © Geoffrey Farmer, Courtesy of the artist. Photo : Francesco Barasciutti
8 of 10
Geoffrey Farmer, "A way out of the mirror," 2017
Installation view at the Canada Pavilion for the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2017. © Geoffrey Farmer, Courtesy of the artist. Photo : Francesco Barasciutti
9 of 10
Geoffrey Farmer, "A way out of the mirror," 2017
Installation view at the Canada Pavilion for the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2017. © Geoffrey Farmer, Courtesy of the artist. Photo : Francesco Barasciutti
10 of 10
Geoffrey Farmer, "A way out of the mirror," 2017
Installation view at the Canada Pavilion for the 57th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2017. © Geoffrey Farmer, Courtesy of the artist. Photo : Francesco Barasciutti
Kitty Scott, the Carol and Morton Rapp Curator, Modern and Contemporary Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, was selected by Farmer to be the curator for the 2017 Canada Pavilion.
"In his Venice project, Geoffrey once again finds a world enclosed inside an image and an image giving rise to a world” explained Ms. Scott. “Personal memory and familial history flow into a broader stream of reflections on inheritance, trauma, and desire. The pavilion itself, colliding with the artwork, is transformed, opening to the outside as its architecture is reimagined in the guise of a fountain."
Scott is working with Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Canada, who is the Project Director for the exhibition at the Canada Pavilion.
Considered among the most prestigious contemporary art events in the world, the International Art Exhibition organized by La Biennale di Venezia is the only visual art exhibition to which Canada sends official representation. For more than 60 years, the Canada Pavilion, located in the Giardini di Castello, has featured the work of the most accomplished Canadian artists. This participation has successfully highlighted the quality of contemporary Canadian art in international circles.
About Geoffrey Farmer
Geoffrey Farmer was born in 1967 in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he continues to live and work. Since his first show in 1997 and over his 20-year career, his work has earned critical acclaim around the world. It has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions at venues including the Louvre in Paris, Tate Modern in London, dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel, Germany, the Migros Museum of Contemporary Art in Zurich, the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton, the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Canada.
Source: National Gallery of Canada
