EMPYREAN
Cliff Evans Solo Exhibition
A collaborative project between The Library and Curator’s Office

Opening Reception: Friday, October 17th 6 – 10 pm
Another Late Night: Saturday, November 1st 6 – 10 pm
Election Day Party: Tuesday, November 4th 7 – 11 pm (Proof of voting required.)

The Library Gallery Hours: Thursday – Saturday, 4 – 8 pm or by appointment

Part of Brushfire, a project organized by Provisions Library, Washington, DC.

  Empyrean, 2007 (installation view at the Gardner Museum, Boston, MA)

The Library (Baltimore, MD) and Curator’s Office (Washington, DC) are pleased to co-present Empyrean, a five-channel HD video projection by noted artist Cliff Evans. The project will be presented at The Library, an artist-run organization located at 1401 Light Street in Baltimore.

This mesmerizing work was presented at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 2007. The museum’s press release states, “Cliff Evans treats images like found objects, mined from the vast reference library that is today’s Internet. His video projection, Empyrean is a digital polyptych with photomontage animation that recalls the form of 15th-century Northern European altarpieces merged with contemporary advertising narratives.

Scene after scene of Evans’s five-channel projection has deliberate order and disquieting disorder, creating a loose but provocative narrative around the subjects of power and population control, coded with interesting and often humorous subtexts. Empyrean’s themes are developed through an absurd juxtaposition of both benign traditions and disturbing pathologies: wellness tourism, missionary practice, and militaristic domination. Evans’s extensive investigation into his subjects is enhanced by a trained eye and impressive skill using image detail and color.” 

  Empyrean, 2007, 5-channel HD projection (cropped still)

  digital print, 17 1/4" x 12 3/4", 44 cm x 32.5 cm, edition of 200, 2008

In conjunction with the exhibition of Cliff Evans's Empyrean at The Library in Baltimore, Maryland, Curator's Office and The Library have co-published and released a limited-edition signed artist multiple by Cliff Evans featuring a signature image (above) from Empyrean. The multiple is a digital print in an edition of 200 and is available for $ 50 during the run of the exhibition.

After the project ends on November 22, any remaining multiples will be sold for $ 100.

This is a unique opportunity to acquire an inexpensive work by an important emerging artist who is breaking new ground in moving image media.

Please e-mail info@thelibraryproject.net to reserve a work.
The edition is selling quickly.Cliff Evans, Empyrean, signed artist multiple of video still, 

Click here to read the review of Empyrean by Francine Koslow Miller for ARTFORUM, February 2008. 

Click here to read the review of Empyrean by Ken Johnson in The New York Times, July 4, 2008.

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This exhibition was made possible through the support of:

BrushFire is an innovative national arts initiative which fosters the creation and presentation of social activist art that enriches public dialogue about the value of democracy in the crucial run-up to the national elections. The goal is to enlighten and inspire voters to move beyond passive spectatorship. BrushFire is organized by Provisions Public Arts, a D.C.-based social change learning resource that amplifies compelling voices that challenge and redefine the mainstream. [BrushFire is made possible in part by a grant from the CrossCurrents Foundation, established in 2006 to promote social, environmental and economic justice through civic participation with a special focus on voter engagement and support for emerging artists whose work contributes to a more just society. Additional support has been provided by The Creative Communities Fund of The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, The Humanities Council for Washington DC, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, The Tides Foundation and individual donors.]