Duane Linklater at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

The first thing visitors to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia's 2013 Sobey Art Award exhibition will notice is a series of five neon birds. Each is a different colour and their wings are splayed as though someone has mounted them on the gallery wall as taxidermied prizes. Award winner Duane Linklater created these neon birds for a series he aptly named Tautology. As the title implies, the work's repetition of a generic symbol represents the self-reinforcing pretense of truth, while his use of neon alludes to the absence of authenticity.



Duane Linklater, Tautology

The work itself is an appropriation of Canadian aboriginal artist Norval Morriseau's painting Androgyny, which is a tableau presenting an impossible utopia: an idyllic world in which all the diverse elements are in perfect balance. In many North American Native cultures, the thunderbird is a mythological creature of immense power and strength. Linklater, an Omaskêko Cree from Moose Cree First Nation in Northern Ontario, calls this power into question by creating multiple copies of a missing original. This work employs a similar modus operandi to a piece at MASS MoCA's recent Oh Canada exhibition by New York-based Canadian artist Brendan Fernandes. In From Hiz Hands the artist, who is Indian by way of Kenya, depicts a series of neon masks that similarly explore themes relating to identity and authorship, but in his case are inspired by those rip-offs of African carvings vendors sell to tourists outside of New York galleries.

Despite his use of multiples, Linklater's Tautology still has an undeniable presence, compelling viewers to come up with their own on-the-spot interpretations of the symbols. "His positive and generous approach to art-making creates space for collaboration and audience engagement," explained the Sobey Award panel in a press statement. "Linklater actively investigates the authority of language and pushes its boundaries." The copy has superseded the original, and growing its own wings developed a unique staying power.


Art Gallery of Nova Scotia: http://www.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca/en/SobeyArtAward/default.aspx
The 2013 Sobey Art Award continues until January 5.


Lizzy Hill is an internationally published writer and the editor of Visual Arts News, Atlantic Canada's only magazine focusing on the work of visual artists. Lizzy loves her community in Halifax's artistic north end, a wonderful summer camp for grown ups full of underground restaurants and pop-up galleries. She is Akimblog's Halifax correspondent and can be followed @LizzyFHill on Twitter.