Monte Clark

September 15 to October 29, 2011

The works featured in The Reckless Moment are a progression of Kydd’s exploration of the roots of the still image. Documenting Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles from static camera angles, Kydd’s durational photographs contain evidence of movement—headlights passing, wind blowing curtains, and at times the hand-held camera. The fluorescent lights illuminate facades, neon lights splash sharp colour into idle corners, and headlights send tracers across windows.

At night Pico’s storefronts and displays dramatize a quiet Los Angeles nostalgia. Under the glow their fixtures and products become evidence of a different life, a daylight past, one that is temporarily suspended in a bright noir-like chiaroscuro.

Owen Kydd (b. 1975, Canada) lives and works in Los Angeles and Vancouver. He holds a joint degree in Fine Art and Literature from Simon Fraser University. Works by Owen Kydd have recently been exhibited at the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver, Monte Clark Gallery Toronto (solo exhibition) and the Vancouver Art Gallery (solo exhibition).