WESTERN FRONT – Faces Front

Description:

Faces Front was an exhibition of large-scale portraits drawn by Ken Dollar of Western Front founders and core members. Dollar drew two portraits of each subject from black-and-white negatives projected on the wall, flipping the negative halfway through so each portrait was created using two right sides of the face and two left sides. The resulting asymmetry through this process of mirroring hinted at the possibility of split personalities.

A screening event titled That’s Tanatamation that featured Dollar’s films was presented on the opening night of the exhibition.

Seen in black and white, in a gallery four white sheets, approximately two metres tall, stand in a row with a marker-drawn portrait on each. The portraits are folded vertically in half, standing at an obtuse angle.

Seen in black and white, in a gallery four large sheets, approximately two metres tall, with marker-drawn portraits stand in a row against a wall. The sheets are folded vertically, at an obtuse angle.

Seen in black and white, in a gallery four large portraits, each drawn on two-metre-tall sheets, stand in a row. The portraits stare into the camera, as the sheets are folded into an obtuse angle.

Seen in black and white, in a gallery four large portraits, each drawn on two-metre-tall sheets, stand against a wall. The portraits stare into the camera, as the sheets are folded into an obtuse angle.

Seen in black and white, a person in a dark shirt and denim jeans leans against a large portrait of themselves, approximately two metres tall. The portrait is cut in half, reflecting the asymmetrical sides of their face, as both the person and the portrait stare at the camera.

Related Events

1982

That’s Tantamation

Captions:

Ken Dollar: Faces Front, installation view, Sep 14 – Oct 8, 1982.
Ken Dollar: Faces Front, installation view, Sep 14 – Oct 8, 1982.
Ken Dollar: Faces Front, installation view, Sep 14 – Oct 8, 1982.
Ken Dollar: Faces Front, installation view, Sep 14 – Oct 8, 1982.
Eric Metcalfe posing with his portrait in Ken Dollar: Faces Front (1982).

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Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.