Liminal Spaces

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Portrait of Andrew Booth, 2023

Courtesy of Monte Clark, Vancouver.

Opening Reception: Thursday, August 10th, 4–7pm

Liminal Spaces refers to the transitional, in-between places that exist on the thresholds of our consciousness and reality. Liminality lies at the confluence of several elements, where the familiar transitions into the unknown. This exhibition presents works by several of Monte Clark’s artists that explore the psychological, physical, and spiritual dimensions of these transitional realms.

Since the beginning of the covid pandemic, the concept and aesthetic of liminal spaces has become an emerging trend on the internet. Online communities like the r/LiminalSpace subreddit have over 615k members, posting thousands of photos of post-apocalyptic city streets, abandoned malls, and empty fields. While these photos are devoid of any human life, there is an uneasy sense that you are not alone. These spaces feel both comforting and discomforting, nostalgic and unsettling, intimate and strange. In many ways these spaces may represent our shared desire to understand and contextualize the vacant public spaces that came to define our experience during the pandemic.

 Liminality can also be represented through other metaphysical examples, such as dream sequences, portals, or transitional stages in life. The slipperiness of defining liminality mirrors the complexity of the emotions it represents.

For this presentation, Monte Clark has extended the exhibition space to include the gallery entrance and backroom, inviting viewers to explore liminality outside of the traditional white-cube gallery experience.  

Through an array of artistic interpretations, Liminal Spaces invites viewers to delve into an enigmatic realm on the threshold.