This book was co-published in 1999 by the Contemporary Art Gallery; and the Agnes Etherington Art Center, on the occasion of the exhibitions, *22 oz. THUNDERBOLT* at the Contemporary Art Gallery, March 27 – May 8, 1999; and *NEUTRAL/BRAKES/STEERING* at the Agnes Etherington Art Center, November 12 – December 24, 1998. The publication contains an essay by Jim Drobnick and Jennifer Fisher.


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Jayce Salloum

Jayce Salloum is recognized for a large body of photography and video production that has been exhibited and screened since 1979. His work has been presented in venues as varied as storefronts in New York and San Diego to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. Having lived abroad for numerous years, Salloum now makes Vancouver his home base. 

The title *22oz. THUNDERBOLT* comes from a fragment of advertising represented in one of the photographs in the exhibition. This body of work, presented in an installation format, continues Salloum’s long-held interest in the idea of street photography and documentary traditions, and the ways in which they intersect with the actual experience of the urban environment. He is also a collector of images and considers his artmaking process akin to that of a creative archivist.

Most of the images in *22oz. THUNDERBOLT* are photographed in a seemingly spontaneous manner, evoking the fragmented and peripheral information that one encounters while walking through the city. The syncopated arrangement on the walls accentuates a layered and impressionistic reading of the urban environment. While many of the images capture ephemeral moments — a view from a car window, street scenes and buildings — the exhibition consists primarily of an accumulation of images of storefronts and window displays. These contained yet highly public spaces give emphasis to a relationship between idiosyncratic and subjective modes of display, and the intentions of consumerist appeal, which Salloum points out are “specifically the places in between private and public space.” In this exhibition, the urban environment was filled with signs of diverse identities, desires and needs, and we must find our own space within it.


Four coloured photographs of various sizes are displayed on a gallery wall. All images depict paper. One photograph shows signs covering the wall, and the other shows piles of books to be recycled.

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Nine photographs are installed on a white gallery wall. They, placed three by three, are street photographs. Some of the images include bear trees in front of buildings. 

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Five coloured photographs of various sizes are displayed on a gallery wall. Four of them are placed closely with each other: two of them show shuttered storefronts and the rest shows mannequin heads. 

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Five coloured photographs of various sizes are displayed on white a wall. All photos depict storefronts. Some have handwritten signs that read, “We Got Coffee” and “Match Any Lower Advertised Price!!”

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Four coloured photographs of various sizes are displayed on a gallery wall. All of the images show mannequins and small dolls displayed in shops. Some brown mannequins have bronde and brunette hair. 

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Four coloured photographs of various sizes are displayed on a white gallery wall. The largest photo among them shows small white sculptures with Disney characters and numbers on. 

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Various coloured photographs of various sizes are displayed on white gallery walls. The large-sized photograph at the top includes “22oz. THUNDERBOLT” printed in yellow over the images.

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Various coloured photographs of various sizes are displayed on white gallery walls. These photographs are roughly grouped by the subject matter. Some are installed at the bottom of the walls. 

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Many coloured photographs of various sizes are displayed on gallery walls. The photographs are roughly grouped by the subject matter. Some are vertically aligned, and pairs are placed side by side.

Jayce Salloum

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