“Dean Drever’s work ‘Black Klan’ is one of the most powerful and provocative pieces from the AGA Collection. Many of this artist’s works examine our relationship to power and violence. The medium of this work makes if particularly interesting to me.
This clansman is made of pieces of paper stacked on top of each other. The material undermines the power of violence, racism, and white supremacy conveyed by the image; it could be blown away or be toppled over in an instant. One should also think about the tiny incremental actions that seem innocuous on their own (in this case placing one piece of paper on top of another) that result in violence, hatred and intolerance taking shape and each individual’s role in that process. For me it also represents the relationship between racist actions and systemic racism”
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Lindsey V. Sharman is a Curator at the Art Gallery of Alberta and adjunct professor with the Department of Art at the University of Calgary. Sharman has studied Art History and Curating in Canada, England, Switzerland, and Austria, earning degrees from the University of Saskatchewan and the University of the Arts, Zurich. From 2012-2018 she was the first curator of the Founders’ Gallery at the Military Museums in Calgary, an academic appointment through the University of Calgary. Her primary area of research is politically and socially engaged art practice.
Image credit:
Dean Drever
Black Klan, 2011
Paper
Art Gallery of Alberta Collection, Gift of Chelsea Macleod and Dean Drever