WESTERN FRONT – A Poke in the Eye

Description:

Rick Ross’s solo exhibition A Poke in the Eye featured drawings and sculptures informed by the artist’s connections to American cities including Los Angeles, Nashville, and San Francisco. A series of sculptural works resembling furniture were arranged in improbable orientations: tipping, tilting, and seemingly mid-fall, yet suspended in place. This illusion was amplified by cartoon-like drawings on the gallery floor that mimicked cast shadows.

A gallery exhibition featuring cartoonishly constructed furniture items: a chair without a seat faces a giant canvas on an easel that looks like it’s about to topple over, and a lopsided stool supports an arrangement of pots. Beneath each sculpture, drawings on the wood floor trace their shadows.

A gallery exhibition featuring a simple wooden chair balancing on its back legs and a wooden stool decorated with a flower vase. Drawings on the floor underneath the furniture pieces map out their shadows.

A wooden stool is decorated with little tin pots, one of which holds a handmade wilted flower. A cartoonish drawing of the stool is displayed on the floor beneath, suggesting its shadow.

The frame of a simple wooden chair balances on its back legs in the middle of a gallery. The illusion of a shadow is suggested by a cartoonish drawing on the floor.

Captions:

Rick Ross: A Poke in the Eye, installation view, May 31 – Apr 17, 1987.
Rick Ross: A Poke in the Eye, installation view, May 31 – Apr 17, 1987.
Rick Ross: A Poke in the Eye, installation view, May 31 – Apr 17, 1987.
Rick Ross: A Poke in the Eye, installation view, May 31 – Apr 17, 1987.

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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.