John Dickson Toronto, ON

Smoke and Mirrors

Mirror, plywood, trees

Location: Vestibule, outside the southeast entrance

In Smoke and Mirrors, the mirrored arches on each wall reflect each other, creating the illusion of an infinitely long arched tunnel filled with trees. The overall impression is of an interior forest that hovers somewhere between the architectural and the natural, illusion and reality. It reflects and responds to the associations and mood created by the Romanticism of the neo gothic architecture, evoking the fantasy fiction of C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling. The title also makes reference to the vestibules use as a smoking area.

John Dickson received an MFA from York University in 1989. A founding member of the Toronto collective Nether Mind, he has shown in all four of its exhibitions (1991-1995). He is particularly interested in exhibiting work in non-gallery situations which has led to his involvement with collective projects such as Nether Mind, Persona Volare, and hic. Past shows include solo exhibitions at the Koffler Gallery, Mercer Union, Robert Birch and Garnet Press Galleries in Toronto, Plug In Inc. in Winnipeg and Optica in Montreal. He has shown internationally in the Czech Republic, Copenhagen, Denmark, and Paris, France.