Donigan Cumming

In Prologue and Epilogue (2005), Montreal artist Donigan Cumming turns his critical eye on themes of military heroism and religious fanaticism. Drawing on his photographic and video archives, transforming this imagery both manually and digitally, Cumming has moulded two monumental collages. Prologue is a vast and troubled landscape: under a livid sky, four thousand heads and limbs constitute a flowing river, while feet of giant proportions dangle from the heavens. On this killing field, an old soldier’s suicide is his last heroic act. Epilogue is a modern cityscape: the prospect of martyrdom sends the citizens into a frenzy; a parade of clones cascades from a crumbling, grafittied tower of Babel. These ancient themes are terrifyingly brought into the present.

Donigan Cumming works in photography, video, sound, text, and other media. Museums, galleries, film, and video festivals worldwide have organized solo exhibitions and surveys of his work. He is the author of four books: The Stage (1991), Pretty Ribbons (1996), Gimlet Eye (2001), and Lying Quiet (2004). His work is held by the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa; the Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; the Musée de L’Élysée, Lausanne; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and by national museums in Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States.

Galerie Éric Devlin
3619 Clark St.
514.278.2928
Donigan Cumming: Prologue to Epilogue
September 7, 2005 – October 8, 2005
Monday to Friday 12:00-6:00pm, Saturday 12:00-5:00pm, and by appointment
Opening Saturday September 10, 2005 at 2:30pm, artist’s talk DVD launch of Donigan Cumming. Controlled Disturbance Thursday September 15, 2005 at 2:30pm