Diaz Contemporary is pleased to present a series of paintings and sculptures by Victoria-based artist Robert Youds. The six works that comprise the exhibition, titled Say nothing, twice, endeavour to create auratic aesthetic disruptures that are both novel and opaque. Blurring the lines among painting, sculpture and photography, Youds aims to engage a sense of optical consciousness through a seductive play of light, shadow and colour.
In this most recent body of work, Youds encourages his audience to experience each work as a state of individuated autonomy and silence. Through the use of cinematic light each work becomes a unique atmospheric experience that encourages a kind of quiet contemplation. Intent on physiological engagement, Youd’s use of mirrors and glass creates a spatial collapse that establishes an uncertain proximity between the viewer and each work. Whereby, challenging spatial and optical perception, Youds opens the conversation about the perception of existing vernaculars within the world of material forms.
Robert Youds holds an MFA from York University and a BFA from the University of Victoria. He is currently a professor in the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Victoria. Previous solo exhibitions include: Vancouver Art Gallery Offsite, Vancouver, BC, Power Plant, Toronto, ON, 300g Gallery, Saskatoon, SK, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC, Post Gallery in Los Angeles, CA, Southern Alberta Art Gallery in Lethbridge, AB and Charles H. Scott Gallery in Vancouver, BC. Youds’ work can be found in private and public collections, including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Vancouver Art Gallery, BC, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, BC, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, NS, Museum London, ON, Art Gallery of Hamilton, ON, Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, ON, Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, Guelph, ON, and the Art Gallery of Ontario, as well as the collections of Toronto Dominion Bank and Bank of Montreal.
  
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