Derek Boswell and Scott Waters: Sleepscapes

Derek Boswell, Vessels (2019), 35mm photograph, image courtesy of the artist.

Derek Boswell and Scott Waters: Sleepscapes

20 July to 15 September, 2019
Opening reception: Thursday, 25 July from 7:00—8:30pm

In this exhibition, Derek Boswell and Scott Waters explore the aesthetics of night. When darkness falls, these artists venture out into streets, woodlands, and neighbourhoods to observe how night invents new experiences, sensations, and ways of seeing the world. Evolutionary scientists argue that our nearly universal ‘fear of the dark’ is, in actuality, an instinctual trepidation of night since it makes human beings vulnerable to threats we cannot see, be they poisonous flora, preying animals, or unknown terrain. However, as Boswell and Waters suggest, the night is also a captivating mystery that struggles to be put into words—the unfamiliar or unexpected hidden by the dark can produce extraordinary visions which compel us to take a different look at where we live and who we are. For both artists, looking into the night is an encounter with endless possibility.

About the Artists
Derek Boswell (b. 1994) is a London-based social documentary photographer and visual artist. A graduate of Bealart, one of the best-known secondary-schools fine art programs in Ontario, with alumni including Greg Curnoe, Jack Chambers, and Jason McLean, Boswell earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from King’s College, Western University. In 2018, his work appeared in the exhibition “My Backyard” at Westland Gallery, and he is a feature subject for a CBC documentary about emerging artists in Ontario.

Scott Waters (b. 1970) is a Toronto-based visual artist born in Preston, England. After serving in the Canadian Armed Forces, he received a Master of Fine Arts degree from York University and later joined the Canadian Forces Artists Program (CFAP). For his work as an official war artist in Afghanistan, Waters received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal. Waters’s work has been shown in galleries and museums throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe, including the McMichael Art Gallery, Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Canadian War Museum, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, and La Galerie de l’UQAM.

Acknowledgements
Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant acknowledges that we are on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishnaabeg, and Haudenosaunee Peoples. Brantford is situated on the Haldimand Tract, land promised to Six Nations, which includes six miles on each side of the Grand River.

Accessibility
Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant is a fully accessible and includes an elevator and accessible washroom. The entrance is accessed by a concrete pathway and may be opened with an automatic door opener. For assistance or questions about the gallery, please call us. Admission is free and everyone is welcome.

For more information, please contact:
Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant
20 Ava Rd., Brantford ON
N3T 5G9 (519) 756-5932
info@glenhyrst.ca