Matthew Cardinal, Ultra Violet, photographic mural on perforated vinyl, 2021. Image courtesy the artist.
INTO THE STREETS PUBLIC ART SERIES: ULTRA VIOLET | MATTHEW CARDINAL
03.07.2021 to 14.11.2021
Opening Reception | July 3 | 8 PM
As part of SAAG’s ongoing Into the Streets Public Art Series, Matthew Cardinal created a photographic mural of urban flora on the front windows of the SAAG using purple colour negative film. Cardinal’s photography practice often combines the contrast of nighttime flash photography with Lomochrome purple colour negative film resulting in velvety depictions of urban overgrowth. The purple film causes green leaves to appear as a desaturated, smooth violet and allows for surprising floral red hues to emerge. The results are dreamy, unearthly photographs generated from the mundane. Cardinal’s use of Lomochrome Purple film creates an effect similar to colour infrared film where photosynthetically active plants reflect infrared light, appearing purple and red in the final image.
Taken on wanderings through alleys and quiet streets of South-Central Edmonton, Cardinal embraces intuition and chance in encountering the urban overgrowth that he records. Of the intent behind both his music and photography practice, Cardinal states that he simply makes music he would want to listen to and he creates photos that he would want to see. In addition to his photography practice, Cardinal is an accomplished musician, having released his ambient album Asterisms in 2020. As part of his Into the Streets project, Cardinal will premiere new music in a performance on July 3rd during the exhibition’s opening reception.
The mission of the SAAG’s Into the Streets Public Art Series is to embed art, creativity, livability, and social responsibility within public space, and to facilitate possibilities for creative, engaging experiences for residents of Lethbridge. This series aligns with the City of Lethbridge's Downtown Vision Statement, by contributing to the vibrancy, openness, accessibility, and diversity of downtown.
Curated by Adam Whitford, Interim Curator
Matthew Cardinal is a musician and sound designer based in Amiskwaciy (Edmonton) on Treaty 6 Territory. He is a member of the band nêhiyawak, the moccasingaze trio whose debut album nipiy was nominated for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize Shortlist and was nominated for a 2020 JUNO Award for Indigenous Album of the Year. Cardinal released his first full-length solo album, Asterisms, through Arts & Crafts in October 2020, a meditative, avant-garde, improvisational interplay of freeform guitar and synth. This dazzling collection of ambient electronic music acts as an audio journal that crystallizes captured moments of experimentation and expression, drawing attention to where Cardinal was musically, mentally and emotionally.
This exhibition was made possible with funding assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the City of Lethbridge.
