Vikky Alexander : Nordic Rock

By James D. Campell
Ciel Variable, Issue No 116, Winter 2021, p. 84

Vikky Alexande’s Nordic Rock is a rare extravaganza of the literal and the metaphorical, the real and the surreal. It provokes a counterpoint to and reappraisal of the massive scale of the imposing Darling Foundry Main Hall in which it is installed, while working seamlessly within it. The furniture in the subversive and repletely idealized showroom of an exhibition is the fitting sequel to Alexander’s Extreme Beauty retrospective in 2019 at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The large exhibition hall, despite its imposing scale and impressive bulk, provides the perfect setting for Alexander’s stylized, non-utilitarian design furniture, including a bed, a chair, a night table, and so forth. Made of dichroic glass, an iridescent material that reflects light in a remarkably wide spectrum of colours that makes it attractive to both artists and architects, these consummately  fragile constructs are presented on custom-made pedestals that effectively increase their allure, as if they were museological specimens in leisure space.

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Image credit:
Vikky Alexander: Nordic Rock
Dichroic benches(avant / front), Frozen Wall(arrière / back), 2020
Installation view at the Fonderie Darling
© Maxime Boisvert