The Burnaby Art Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition by Vancouver-based artist Dan Starling, which takes as its starting point Rembrandt’s renowned work Christ Crucified Between Two Thieves: The Three Crosses (1653). Rembrandt had created five states of this print, with each version altered through either sketching directly on the plate or adjusting the level of ink left on the plate for printing. Starling, piqued by this experimental approach by one of Western art history’s most renowned figures, created 40 drypoint prints, working from the original to embellish and erase parts of the image, creating a shifting narrative through time on the hills outside the walls of Jerusalem.
Unsettled Histories, which runs February 4 – April 17, 2022, uses printmaking to realign the timelessness of Rembrandt’s original with the timeliness of contemporary socio-political struggle in the settler-colonial context of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Western art history is typically presented as timeless and unchanging. By moving Rembrandt’s work through a process of erasure and super-imposition, Starling aims to highlight the instability of occupation.
“Starling, through his process, questions the legitimacy of colonial histories, prodding at the foundations of settler-occupied cultural narratives. Starling’s single copper plate carries within it a multitude of propositions, fictions, literary accounts, and imaginings,” said Burnaby Art Gallery Curator Jennifer Cane.
Included in the exhibition are 40 drypoint prints from Dan Starling’s Unsettled Histories series accompanied by a number of Rembrandt etchings held in the City of Burnaby Permanent Art Collection. A cloth-bound hardcover publication featuring essays by Daniel Adleman, Sanem Güvenç, and the artist has been published in conjunction with the exhibition.
Enhanced cleaning procedures and safety protocols at the gallery will ensure visitors can continue to connect with culture safely. All visitors must follow safety signage and staff directions at all times and are asked to postpone their visit if they are feeling sick.
Learn More: Dan Starling: Unsettled Histories
Images: High resolution promotional images
Public Programs
Find public programs related to the Dan Starling exhibition online at burnabyartgallery.ca.
Burnaby Art Gallery
Since 1967, the Burnaby Art Gallery (BAG) has been dedicated to collecting, preserving and presenting a contemporary and historical visual art program by local, national and internationally recognized artists. The BAG acts as a leader in the collection, preservation and exhibition of artists who choose to work on paper–the only public art museum in Canada dedicated to works of art on paper. Through our collection and exhibition practices the BAG endeavours to represent the best and most promising Canadian artists. The BAG cares for and manages over 5,700 works of art in the City of Burnaby’s Permanent Art Collection.
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