Susan Hobbs

This exhibition will re-present two of Robert Wiens’ seminal early works, Little Boy (1986) and Desert, Jet (1994). Produced in response to ongoing conflicts, each work asserts a surprising resonance in a time when actions of war progressively blur virtual and material reality through the remote technology of drones and satellite surveillance. Through deconstructing the theatricality of media representations of warfare, these works—last exhibited over twenty years ago—shed light on the legacy of contradictions around information dissemination. Here, Wiens addresses monumental issues via table-top sculptures, setting the scene before the event: Little Boy (1986) addresses Cruise missile testing while referencing the dropping of the first atom bomb on Hiroshima; and Desert, Jet (1994) alludes to the First Gulf War. Following Jean Baudrillard’s writing on the Gulf War in the early-90s, “the media promotes the war and the war promotes the media,” these works provide fruitful points of inquiry—with continued relevance.

Robert Wiens was born in Leamington, Ontario in 1953, and currently lives in Picton, Ontario. He has exhibited his work both nationally and internationally. Recent exhibitions include KEEPING WATCH on AIR UNC Charlotte Centre City, Charlotte, North Carolina, Micro/Macro at Gallery Stratford, Stratford, and Doris McCarthy Gallery, Toronto, the nationally-touring exhibition Projections originating at Hart House, Toronto, and Do Not Destroy: Trees, Art, and Jewish Thought at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco. His work is held in numerous private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Kingston; Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, and Doris McCarthy Gallery, Toronto.