Press Releases
November 25, 2014
Posted On:
November 25, 2014

Biometric portrait exhibition at New Media Gallery finds humanity in technology

New Westminster – The City of New Westminster New Media Gallery has recently completed its first exhibition and is now preparing to open Biometric, an international portraiture exhibition located at the intersection of art and technology.  Eleven artists from around the world examine the boundaries of human identity and the measure of human characteristics.  These artists take part in the enduring search to identify the humanity in technology.

Biometric includes pioneers of new media art as well as emerging artists.  Each artist explores how technology transforms our understanding of what it means to be human.  From four continents they include; Julie Rrap (Australia), Jim Campbell (USA), Christine Borland (Scotland), Julian Opie (UK), ShinSeungBack and KimYongHun (Korea),  Martynka Wawrzyniak (POLAND/NYC), Denis Beaubois (Australia), Ahree Lee (USA),  Heather Dewey-Hagborg (USA), and Anthony Cerniello (USA).   

To produce the works in the exhibition, the artists have: strapped themselves into a revolving metal sphere, worked for months with scientists on pheromone and DNA research, collaborated with a police forensics team, produced a self-portrait a year since 2001, and obsessively followed the breath of a nameless woman and a robot child.  There is a Turner Prize nominee, a YBA (Young British Artists), a member of the New British Sculpture movement, an Australian National Portraiture Prize winner and a Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowship recipient.

Biometric opens Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 7:00 pm with a talk by provocative Australian artist Julie Rrap.  She will detail her pioneering career in the arts and be available at a reception to discuss her monumental video work ‘360 Degree Self-Portrait’, winner of the 2011 Australian National Portraiture prize.  Ms. Rrap is also available for an exclusive interview on December 2 or 3, 2014. 

The New Media Gallery is operated by the City of New Westminster as part of Cultural Services within the Parks, Culture and Recreation Department.

Serious, well-crafted, yet approachable work that isn't afraid to handle sexuality with a mix of humour, drama, and the occasional dash of mysticism.
Art Info (on Martynka Wawryzniak)

Art and science are never happy bedfellows, but Christine Borland is a relentless matchmaker.
Frieze Magazine (on Christine Borland)

Her video, 360° Self-Portrait, is unrelentingly stark, unflinching, unflattering and utterly compelling.
The Art Life (on Julie Rrap)

Is this really possible — could an artist, not some high-tech genomic sleuth, but someone with access to some relatively rudimentary biotech gear, create portraits of people from just a strand of hair or a dried up gleam of spit?
Forbes Magazine (on Heather Dewey Hagborg)

 

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Contact:

Sarah Joyce and Gordon Duggan
Directors and Curators
New Media Gallery
City of New Westminster
604-875-1865

www.newmediagallery.ca
www.facebook.com/NWnmg