Derrick Piens
When Things Collide
Gallery One
Exhibition Info
Derrick Piens’ aptly titled exhibition When Things Collide features nine new and recent sculptures by the prominent up-and-coming Toronto based artist. His multifaceted use of materials and colours ranges from mutated geometric and geologic forms to unlikely pairings of objects in the act of collision. On the surface, the sculptures may appear idiosyncratic and absurd but each is a carefully considered and constructed elemental unit. Despite their apparent otherworldliness, they remain largely human in scale and share an innate, if abstracted relationship to the body. At their core, this ongoing series of sculptural works demonstrate the artist’s commitment to the hands-on transformation of materials from one state to another.
Photography: Robert McNair
Artist Biography
Derrick Piens received his MFA from Southern Methodist University in 2007, and BFA from NSCAD University in 2005. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions across Canada and the United States, including Sentinels, The Dallas Contemporary (Dallas, TX); trans/FORM: Matter as Subject > New Perspectives, The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (Toronto, ON); Summertime In Paris, Parisian Laundry (Montreal, QC); and Skipping Stones, General Hardware Contemporary (Toronto, ON). His sculptures are included in numerous private collections in the UK, New York, Montreal and Toronto as well as the permanent collections of Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University and the Claridge Collection. He is based in Toronto. Derrick Piens is represented by General Hardware Contemporary, Toronto.