A Hole in the World

"Matt Shane and Jim Holyoak have been collaborating for over 15 years on large-scale, immersive drawings on paper, yet 'A Hole in the World' is their first permanent installation. In their shared artistic practice, Shane and Holyoak create exquisitely detailed fantasy worlds that have an emphasis on epic landscapes populated by rarely seen inhabitants. 'A Hole in the World' references the local area (can you find the tiny Olympic Stadium?), vistas from their recent travels in Norway and Iceland, as well as imaginary scenes of mountains, valleys, nooks, and crannies, all of them meticulously detailed. The scenes Shane and Holyoak create are always in flux and focus on the environment as a site of deterioration where landmasses and structures melt, leak, crumble, and spill. Here, this changing environment encircles a swath of darkness that resembles an oil spill or black hole engulfing the world. The contrasting forces at work in 'A Hole in the World,' light and dark, highly detailed and abstract, whimsical and post-apocalyptic, are signature qualities of Shane and Holyoak’s collective style."

- Jennie Lamensdorf, Art-in-Buildings Curator, 2015

Installed on the second floor of the American Can Co. building, 2030 boul. Pie IX, Montreal.