Piece
by Scott Pommier, Robyn Cummings, Ryan Whorl and Natalyn Tremblet
This photography collection, a departure for Pariah Press, is a culmination of what's commonly called "low art" from across Canada. As our national consciousness grows to include a more urban landscape, our artwork too begins to reflect this. Like Wild Style documented the graffiti explosion in New York in the Eighties, Piece documents the up and coming artists of this country and its growing urban consciousness.
Produced in collaboration with the Winnipeg Arts Collective, all of Canada's major graffiti crews are featured, such as Kwota, SFR and Cap, with full page spreads on the likes of Omen, Twist, and Eager, just to name a few. The photographers and artists featured in the book are all Canadians whose backgrounds range from those of a working class Jamaican immigrants, to suburban white kids who saw graffiti as a way of subverting the norm. All the shots included in this essay document the urban language of our streets. This is art at a higher level.
Scott Pommier is one of Canada�s premier skateboard and documentarian photographers. Robyn Cummings is the recipient of this year�s Annie Lebowitz Women In Photography Award. Ryan Whorl is a Toronto based photographer who is constantly pushing the boundaries of the art form through theme and style. Natalyn Tremblet is not only a photographer but also an activist against censorship and globalization two passions which are often evoked in her work. All four photographers devoted their time to this project, dividing the country for a thorough search of the best pieces on our cities walls.
"There has been nothing of its sort published in Canada. Its scope and ambition are truly remarkable." (Allan Gorgon, Weekly Review)
"Pariah has gone out on a limb in their fine tradition of going out on limbs, and we get to enjoy the fruit once more." (Claire Liu, Geist)
"Beautifully photographed and eloquently defended, these young urbanites have shaken up our preconceptions with powerful works of public art." (Patrick McNally, Ottawa Now)
"Not the snowshoes and ice rinks we normally think of, these photojournalists have given us the raw, the wild, and the hauntingly beautiful side of a new urban Canada." (Robert Krause, Atlanta Arts Review)
Non-Fiction, (hardcover)
159 pages, 360mm x 280mm
$70.95 (Can), $49.95 (US)
ISBN: 0-90210-22-3