David Tomas, Matrix for a Yellow Light, version 2, 2005. Gift of the Artist, 2007 (50-022.01)
Exhibitions
Perceptions and their Arousal
Davies Foundation Gallery
21 February - 10 May
Perceptions and their Arousal features recent acquisitions of contemporary art that investigate structures of knowledge and the creative process. The exhibition title is drawn from poet Robert Creeley’s description of the work of revered American composer John Cage (1912-1992).
Montreal artist David Tomas’ Matrix for Yellow Light, version 2 (2005) is the centerpiece of the exhibition. This elegant electronic sculpture features the diaristic musings of a scientist on the threshold of discovery: Tomas takes as his subject the Polish-French physicist, chemist and pioneer in the field of radioactivity, Marie Curie, and her visualization of the element radium during a period of intensive research in 1898.
Tomas’ piece is presented with works by nine artists exploring synaesthesia and the power of perceptual models to extend our understanding of the world: Stephen Andrews, Chris Curreri, Roni Horn, Nobuo Kubota, Kazuo Nakamura, Donald Rance, Eve Sonneman, Scott Wallis and Lawrence Weiner.
Jan Allen