This catalogue was published in 1987 by the Contemporary Art Gallery on the occasion of the exhibition *Trigger* by Katherine Knight, Sandra Meigs and Colette Urban at the Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, from June 2 – 27, 1987. The publication contains an essay by curator Allyson Clay.

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Trigger

Katherine Knight

Colette Urban

Sandra Meigs

This exhibition, curated by Allyson Clay, offers an opportunity for the Vancouver audience to see a group show of multimedia and installation work by Katherine Knight of Vancouver, Sandra	Meigs of Toronto, and Colette Urban of Victoria. Although the work of each of these artists is	unique and different, they share a common approach to art-making, drawing from a wide range of media, and designing their works for specific sites.

Katherine Knight is showing a sculptural installation called *Marguerite* incorporating a continuous audio tape which projects the artist's voice reading a long poem, of the same name, written in 1981. This work is based on the true life story of Canada’s first uncloistered nun, Marguerite Bourgeouys, who, writes Knight, "attempts much, accomplishes some, dies, is largely forgotten and is now remembered."

Sandra Meigs work, *Angel Eyes (self-portrait)*, is a painting in polyester resin on six panels of four by eight foot plexiglass. These unsophisticated or cartoon-like images recall childhood experiences of the “real" equaling the “imaginary" and all existing on a giant movie-screen scale. This is also a humorous and critical look at everyday imagery represented as monumental or museum-size.

Colette Urban is showing costumes and other ingredients from two past performances, *I Feel Faint* and *Every Fly has a Shadow*, as well as presenting a new performance, *Blind Spot*, on opening night. "Colette Urban," Ian Wallace has written, "transfigures objects and experiences into ciphers for the recognition of both inspiration and emptiness, yet which also evoke the faint echo of truth, an evasive truth which seems so remote from the quotidian world of the streets."

In general, these three artists' sensual use of materials, their use of the elements of theatricality and kitsch, and their discreet sensibility for the ironic and comic, trigger another level of involvement in the critical discourses of feminism and modernism.

Guest curated by Allyson Clay


Essay: "Trigger," Allyson Clay

In the corner of a gallery, there is a long black dress on a mannequin, resting on pile of hay on the floor. Several cables are in the hay and on the wall, as well as a rock sculpture and a painting.

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Several artworks in the ball of a gallery. The works include a sculpture with concrete, tin foil, and a metal rake; a sculpture with a lightbulb on a pole; and a painting on the wall. 

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A closeup of a sculpture mounted on a wall. The sculpture is made of various readymade elements, including: cement bricks, tin foil, wires, side mirrors, metal tubes, and a rake. 

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Several artworks in the corner of a gallery. The works include a black dress standing on hay, a rock, a small painting, and a small, black wooden arch with text on the wall behind it.

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A closeup of an artwork. The work is a large plastic sheet with text that is on both the wall and the floor. There are two rusty curved pipes on the floor, and a folded silver panel on the wall.

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Multiple artworks visible in a gallery. Several colourful wall-to-ceiling paintings on glossy surfaces are visible on one side of the space. The rest of the space has various sculptures all around.

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A closeup of large glossy paintings suspended in front of a wall. The paintings are narrow and very tall They show different images of a mosquito, a cat, a chick, a human, a snail, and a horse.

Trigger

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