TAKE OUT?

Gargoyles and Drifters

164 flying / swimming / drifting creatures, hand painted by Matt Shane and Jim Holyoak and printed on vinyl, stuck to the windows of Metro Beaudry, Montreal, QC. This project was completed for the Aires Libres Festival in the summer of 2014.

Show statement: Jim Holyoak and Matt Shane have been collaborating artistically for almost fifteen years, giving rise to often monumental graphic installations. Though their approaches may differ in many ways, the meeting of their imaginations creates atemporal universes that blur the boundaries between reality, fiction, perception, and fantasy. Within the framework of Aires Libres’ public art manifestation, these two acolytes have stormed the large windows comprising the major part of the entrance to the Beaudry metro station to create a mix between a vivarium and an aquarium. Cephalopods and fish of all types live side-by-side with marine mammals, sometimes even alongside prehistoric creatures. When night falls, the interior lighting of Beaudry metro gives new life to the detailed drawings of the windowed arch, permitting a different experience of the work. The project is a nod to the distracting and protecting functions of animal figures we affix to buildings to keep harmful spirits at bay.

- Aseman Sabet, Commissaire, Aires Libres 2014