TIKO KERR
Tiko Kerr – Seeing in Pieces (June 7 - 28, 2025)
Seeing in Pieces marks Kerr's fourth solo exhibit with the gallery. The works presented are a reflection of his long-time interest in collage informed by his practice as a painter and draughtsman. This exhibition is comprised of works produced between 2018-2025 and asserts his most recent explorations into multi-layered plexiglass wall reliefs and incised paper collage.
"When I ask myself why I am so thrilled by Tiko Kerr's most recent work, I start with the simple fact that it is visually compelling. Whether Tiko is cutting paper, assembling a collage, or painting a canvas, the result is always unignorable. There are juxtapositions of shape, colour and texture that invariably seem utterly new. They both tease and resonate. My first reaction is often a sort of startled observation: who ever knew you could see things that way? Then follows a second question: how do I make sense of this? Even the most overtly political of his recent pieces are not really didactic; instead, there's a conversation taking place between ideas that don't often live together, like when the shapes of iconic cartoon characters are precisely cut from pictures of the paintings of old masters. You're invited, or maybe the better word is compelled, to sort this out for yourself, to decide whether the right reaction is a nod, a wink, or something more profound. The effects are neither casual, nor accidental. The work can mean whatever you want, but you can't simply walk by".
~ Geoff Plant, Q.C.Chancellor Emily Carr University of Art and Design
"Today, after nearly three decades of being an artist, Kerr is driven and confident, each new body of work surprisingly, but logically, developing out of the works before. He has become fearless. It's fair to say that he has reached a rich late-middle period in his career, marked by the assimilation of a lifetime of experiences both inside and outside the art world, laying the groundwork for the last decades extensive experimentation of visual ideas and subject matter".
~ Chris Keatley, Curator Pendullum Gallery Vancouver
Kerr’s latest body of work, playing with three dimensions in a two-dimensional format, reinforced how we see, and how we perceive depth and relationships in artwork and elsewhere. He continues to be inspired by the spatial potential offered by layered plexiglass and its ability to allow shifting light to affect the compositions, which are aptly titled Shadow Poems. Each piece is anchored visually, nestled into its surroundings, yet the separation of layers also evokes a floating or uplifting sensation echoing his desire to convey optimism and joy. There is both weight and weightlessness.
Kerr began many of these works by cutting up drawings from as far back as his art school days. He snips into figurative sketches, keeping only the most eloquent lines and organizing them organically into new compositions; the only new marks are made by a pair of scissors, but the significance of the already existing marks is transformed. Kerr’s use of old drawings keeps one foot in the past while questioning what the future has to offer. These new works embrace the familiarity of history and signify the changes we live through.
~ Helena Wadsley is a Vancouver-based artist and write
