MAIN SPACE EXHIBITION
OCTOBER 13 – NOVEMBER 4, 1995
RECEPTION: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1995 AT 8 PM

LOCATION – STRIDE GALLERY
722, 11 AVE S.W, CALGARY, ALBERTA

ARTIST BIO

Bill Gardner is a Calgary artist who uses the technology of the family laundry to produce truly unique prints. “Mondays are like washdays and my palette is restricted by what dirty laundry is available. Every print contains biological evidence of proof of authorship and date of manufacture.” Bill is a graduate of ACAD and he also studied painting and printmaking at NSCAD and the University of Calgary.

EXHIBITION TEXT

My clothes dryer has been the technological intervention in the production of these prints. A stencil or series of stencils can be attached to the link screen of the dryer and this allows me to direct tones to different areas of the print in process.

By closely monitoring the drying time and types of fabrics (towels product much faster prints than t-shirts) I have been able to exercise control over the production of pigment or link. Using the usual categories for laundry operation (whites, darks, colours, delicates, etc.) tints and tones in each new work are influenced by the necessities of hygiene and fashion choices of my family’s and mine in the week previous to making each print. Removal of a stencil, replacement of the screen, and a different basket of clothing produces variations in the colouring of the forms.

At the end of the process the finished print is carefully lifted from the link screen and exists as an object in and of itself. Because of the extreme fragility and ethereality of these prints, I generally seal them between two panes of glass with a hardwood frame. The double panes of glass allow the viewer to examine the back of the print and recognize that these are not collaged fabrics.

This process is not an exact science. The link screen is a concave, pliable surface which makes it difficult to attach and remove stencils. Mondays are washdays and my palette is restricted by what dirty laundry is available. Exact multiples or duplicates are impossible. Accompanying that disadvantage is the ease of authentification. Each print contains biological evidence of proof of authorship and date of manufacture.

-Bill Gardner 1995