Blog #3: Review Comparison--"Drink from the River"

     Two reviews on the exhibition “Drink from the River” by Brenda Draney demonstrated the ways in which different people can experience a body of work in both diverging and unanimous ways. It was fascinating to see what aspects one reviewer focused on over another. This exhibition includes paintings with vast empty space and outlines of particular scenes and images with missing elements. In Terrence Dicks’s review, he saw this as a way for viewers to insert themselves into the narrative. He described the images like poetry over an essay, thus allowing for the audience's memories to fill the void. On a different note, Vasia Rigou’s review emphasized the artist. She gave Draney’s specific biographical information of being born in Sawridge First Nation, and an artist based in Edmonton. Rigou’s review directs readers' attention to the work being about Draney–a glimpse into her childhood, home, memories and intimate settings like an unmade bed. 

    Both reviews speak of the work in a positive light, although in response to imaginatively filling in the empty space Dick states it's, "both liberating and daunting, and remind one of the demands art places on artist and viewer.” Rigou was less concerned over the viewer, pointing out that things are “left unsaid” in some ways embracing the emptiness instead of needing to fill-in-the-blanks

    Overall, both reviews pulled me in different ways, yet, I found Dicks openness to various interpretations and questions allowed me to think deeper about the works. He related the blankness to his own personal memories, ideas about trauma, and questions about nothingness. At the same time, Rigou's was less personal, but still raised important notions about the work.

Reviews:

Terrence Dick: https://akimbo.ca/akimblog/brenda-draney-at-the-power-plant-toronto/

Vasia Rigou: https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/build-your-own-narrative-brenda-draney-arts-club/