Steven Brekelmans
Steven Brekelmans was born in Vancouver, attended the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design and graduated with an MFA from the University of Victoria. Working across a variety of mediums, he has exhibited both locally and internationally at CAG, Trapp Projects, Or Gallery, CSA Space, UNIT/PITT Projects, Western Front, MOLAF (Norway), The Western Bridge (Seattle) and Soi Fischer Projects (Toronto). His work is held in private and public collections including Simon Fraser University, TD Bank, Cleveland Arts & Medical Institute, and Fidelity Investments.
Half Hours With The Stars
In this new body of work, Steven Brekelmans considers the relationship between the valuable and the worthless, questioning the merit of creative labour, the measures of value, and the inheritance of local (art) histories. On the walls a series of ink and gouache drawings riff on the work of two Vancouver-based artists, conflating the unique imagery and distinct relationships to the city of photo-conceptualist Christos Dikeakos and mid-century modernist B.C. Binning. Raw plywood boxes, evoking the object forms of minimalism, work both as shelves and containers: electronic modules are contained within, while a collection of objects, both found and crafted, are presented atop. Through this mixture of drawing, sculpture and assemblage, the artist asks, “How can we measure importance without knowing the trivial?