Geoffrey Farmer’s first major retrospective opened last week at the Vancouver Art Gallery reflecting a 15-year career for the critically acclaimed Vancouver-based artist.
How Do I Fit This Ghost In My Body? contains work both previous and new, with six major installations, several new sculptures and some of his most discernible and complex work. Farmer, who has gained international recognition for his ground-breaking work, weaves a theatrical narrative through his pieces often influenced by pop culture, literature, art and personal history in the tradition of collage and assemblage.
Chief curator/associate director Daina Augaitis said in a press release that the location of the exhibit is especially personal for Farmer, whose father once served as prosecutor in the courthouse originally housed in the building.
The nature of Farmer’s work and the way it responds to a particular space reinvents the gallery into an improvisational site. The exhibition also includes special tours through the basement space of the VAG, generally limited to staff and artists.
The exhibit includes The Surgeon and the Photographer, a monumental installation displayed for the first time, since it was acquired by the gallery in 2010. Accompanying the piece is a 400-page artist book by Geoffrey Farmer and co-published by the VAG and Black Dog Publishing focusing on each element in the installation.
How Do I Fit This Ghost In My Mouth? is at the Vancouver Art Gallery until September 7. Farmer will be in house for an artist’s talk June 13 at 3pm.
