Skip to content
Contemporary Art Gallery

555 Nelson Street
Vancouver, Canada
Open from Tuesday to
Sunday 12 pm → 6 pm

Admission always free
ArchiveExhibition
23 Oct 99until6 Nov 99

Judy Radul

Rehearsal

555 Hamilton St

A small round table and a wooden chair are on a corner of the theatre stage. A red botanical-patterned tablecloth covers the table, on which a vintage wine glass and a book are placed.

The Contemporary Art Gallery is pleased to present a new installation by Vancouver artist Judy Radul. This exhibition is presented as a component of the Live at the End of the Century: Performance Art in Vancouver, a month-long festival, coordinated by the Grunt Gallery, celebrating Vancouver's long history of performance art.

Judy Radul has been exhibiting since 1983. In recent years, Radul's performances, videos and installations have been seen at the Vancouver Art Gallery; Or Gallery, Vancouver; Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff; YYZ Artists' Outlet, Toronto; and the Institute for Contemporary Art in London, England. She is one of Canada's most respected innovators in the area of performance art. Radul incorporates a cross-over of performance, visual and video art in a way that challenges their autonomy as distinct practices, and extends their boundaries.

With Rehearsal, Radul transforms the gallery into a theatrical environment that animates the neutrality of the formal gallery space and blurs the lines between performance and a static exhibition. Using performance/theatre as a model, Radul has created a mock set that includes a stage, curtains and video to create a tension between the idea of a set and its inhabitation or desertion. It functions as a meeting place constructed to explore different conventions of viewing related to the gallery, the theatre and the cinema. Of interest to Radul is the role of the audience and the mechanics of looking and being observed, of exploring illusion and the fantasy of illusion and activating a space through the presence of people. The installation, in essence, exists metaphorically as a rehearsal for an imagined performance.

A wooden bench and chairs are placed in the corner of a gallery space. A video piece is projected on a white panel that is placed on a small step stool at the corner of the room.
A wooden skinny barrel, stool, chair, two books, and a ceramic coffee mug are placed on the gallery floor. A black dial phone and a dynamite bundle are placed on top of the stool.
A theatre stage is set in a gallery space. A dark body of water is depicted in the stage background. Four chairs, a stool, and a table are placed on the stage distanced from each other.
Six wooden chairs, three stools. a bench, a bucket, and two ladders are placed on the gallery floor distanced from each other. A large piece of yellow textile is hanging from one of the ladder steps.
A tall wooden step ladder is placed in the middle of a gallery space. A yellow and red curtain, with a white layer underneath, are folded and hung from one of the ladder steps.
A small round table and a wooden chair are on a corner of the theatre stage. A red botanical-patterned tablecloth covers the table, on which a vintage wine glass and a book are placed.
A wooden bench and chairs are placed in the corner of a gallery space. A video piece is projected on a white panel that is placed on a small step stool at the corner of the room.
A wooden skinny barrel, stool, chair, two books, and a ceramic coffee mug are placed on the gallery floor. A black dial phone and a dynamite bundle are placed on top of the stool.
A theatre stage is set in a gallery space. A dark body of water is depicted in the stage background. Four chairs, a stool, and a table are placed on the stage distanced from each other.
Six wooden chairs, three stools. a bench, a bucket, and two ladders are placed on the gallery floor distanced from each other. A large piece of yellow textile is hanging from one of the ladder steps.
A tall wooden step ladder is placed in the middle of a gallery space. A yellow and red curtain, with a white layer underneath, are folded and hung from one of the ladder steps.