MIDNIGHT Exhibition

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Opening September 20th, 2024, David R. Harper’s exhibition MIDNIGHT is a profound exploration of stillness rendered in material form, including stained-glass, handwoven linen, embroidery, and a monumental installation of over 10,000 ceramic bird forms.

MIDNIGHT is the culmination of Harper’s nine-year investigation into the bird form as a conduit to process ideas of presence in absence and the relationship between accumulation and deterioration.

Harper has developed an intimate relationship with this form. When the pandemic forced the world to stop, the idea of halting his hands from doing what they knew best was unthinkable. Yet the pressure to create during a time of deep anxiety was debilitating. Instead, he leaned into creating a production line of ceramic bird forms. The birds offered the artist a stopgap between projects. It was a comforting shape to return to in times of grief or creative inactivity. It became a crutch—a support in staving off the anxiety of not working.

With the birds piling up in his studio, it was apparent they needed to take shape, in a flock, to allow for a new story to be told. Eventually the work became bigger than him, bigger than the reason he began in the first place; it started to live a life of its own. Each ceramic form became the residue (or dust) of his artistic production and output that clung to the studio, collectively articulating connections between accumulation and deterioration, the measurement of time, and the intimate relationship between an artist and a form.

The studio production line of bird forms materialized an extension of the artist and became a way of rendering thought in form as we ask the big questions that haunt our daily existence. As we see our world falling apart, when in the climax of self-destruction, when ruination has overcome us—what are we doing to preserve ourselves and our cultures? How do we keep moving forward, even when we don’t know where we are going or why?

AGB Hours

Monday: CLOSED

Tuesday – Thursday: 10 AM – 9 PM

Friday – Sunday: 10 AM – 5 PM

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• Art Gallery of Burlington agb.life

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Art Gallery of Burlington

The Art Gallery of Burlington delivers thought-provoking exhibitions, learning opportunities, and public programs that spark meaningful connections for people to learn, see, think, and make. We activate our collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics and explore the intersection of contemporary art and craft.

The AGB commits to fostering a fair, diverse, and inclusive environment where everyone is respected and valued, regardless of their background. We do not discriminate based on sex, age, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation or identity, disability, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, family status, or socioeconomic status. We embrace diverse life experiences and honour their value to our organization. We aim to set a positive example and promote best practices for equity, diversity, and inclusion in the not-for-profit sector.

The AGB is grateful to acknowledge that we are on Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and the ancestral territory of many Indigenous Nations, including the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, and Métis peoples.

AGB Hours

Monday: CLOSED

Tuesday – Thursday: 10 AM – 9 PM

Friday – Sunday: 10 AM – 5 PM

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