September 11 - November 1, 2014

Opening reception: Thursday, September 11, 2014

Daniel Faria Gallery is pleased to present Mark Lewis second solo exhibition with the gallery.

Mark Lewis is known for his short but hypnotic silent films. Trained in photography, Lewis posits film through myriad historical references such as painting, photography, and cinema. In his moving images narrative becomes secondary, allowing for reflection on the act of vision: natural or urban landscapes, as well as genre scenes, lend themselves to composition. Brief glances are discarded in favour of long shots. The sites and the actions that take place within them, result in the production of spontaneous narratives. Balanced between stasis and movement, Lewis films often highlight "non-places, or the ubiquities of the everyday.

Minhocao Day 2014 surveys The Minhoco, an elevated overpass located in So Paulo, Brazil. The Minhoco is closed-off to vehicular traffic on Sundays, allowing for unobstructed pedestrian movement. Minhocao Day not only pans the road but also below the overpass, and into an adjoining courtyard and neighbouring sidewalks. Continuity in the work is provided not only by The Minhoco but by the characters inhabiting the film a couple standing in the middle of the thoroughfare, a man talking on his mobile, people on bicycles passing through but also by an adjacent black-and-white mosaic sidewalk and the road itself.

In contrast, Observation in Cheorwon Country 2014 is set in Cheorwon, a rural area that passed back and forth between North and South Korea following the country's division after World War II, but is now itself split between the two nations. Lewis film is shot in the South, beginning with its focus on a pebble-strewn, corrugated metal roof. The camera slowly pans out, surveying barren trees, valleys and farmland. Eventually, the viewer is presented with hills that have been modified, cut away and built upon; remnants of military trenches built up of rubber tires and concealed by grass and dirt relics of the Cold War. Lewis' camera is finally brought to rest on a nearby observation deck, located at the Cheorwan Peace Observatory. A group of people looks out, surveying the view of natural habitat, farmland, and de-militarized territory. The cultural tourists, seemingly observing a history, are themselves still existent in a highly regulated milieu.

Mark Lewis b. 1958 was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and currently lives and works in London, U.K. Lewis attended Harrow College of Art in London and the Polytechnic of Central London, and began his career as a photographer before moving into film. He has had numerous solo shows in museums around the world, such as BFI Southbank London, Art Gallery of Ontario Toronto and the Muse dart Moderne Luxembourg. In 2009, Lewis represented Canada in the 53rd Venice Biennale, curated by Barbara Fischer. Currently Lewis is included in the Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil 2014 and REAL DMZ Project, Korea. This fall Lewis has a solo exhibition at The Louvre, Paris. Lewis work is found in the collections of Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; Centre Pompidou-Musee National dArt Moderne, Paris; Hammer Museum, Los Angles; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa and Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver.

For more information contact Dory Smith:

dory@danielfariagallery.com or 416 538 1880.

Daniel Faria Gallery

188 St Helens Avenue

Toronto, ON M6H 4A1

416 538 1880

www.danielfariagallery.com

Hours: Tuesday to Friday 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, Saturday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm