This show is for anyone who's ever wondered what the point of an object was and, upon getting an unsatisfactory answer, decided to do something brillian with it instead. Or at least that is what Christian Nicolay has done here. "Project Flyleaf" is the result of probably hundreds of books now missing those (pretty much) useless pages of blank paper at the front and back. Under Nicolay's hand, the Elliot Louis Gallery in the Waterfall building has been filled with whimsical pencil drawings, mixed media pieces, video and sculpture that resonate with school and bookish themes. He has even re-created several pieces in pencil on the wall, adding a further dimension to the exhibit.

From Nicolay:

fly'leaf" n. 1, a blank leaf at the beginning or end of a book. 2, flyleaves often carry pen trails and inscriptions concerning provenance. 3, used for structural reinforcement to protect the text in the event of worming or damage to the binding.
Flyleaves denote preservation
Project flyleaf represents entropy.
Drawn on flyleaf: entropy artifacts
Each flyleaf is left to the unpredictable course and nature of the books next owner. Things that were written may become crossed out, or added onto. A dialogue of spontaneous and uncertain mark making begins.
Flyleaves ephemeral yet silent qualities draws on my obsession with opposites that simultaneously co-exist in perfect harmony.
Decades of
pen trails
doodles
scribbles and scrawls
Sometimes flyleaves are blank
not one mark, dog ear or inscription
lost as naked anomalies
enclosed, suffocated and bound by text
Their purpose remains
an empty dust cover
for preservation and
a (certain)silent death

Project Flyleaf is still showing until Nov. 5th - this Sunday. It is nostalgic and brilliant and well-worth seeing.

Elliot Louis Gallery
The Waterfall Building
1540 West 2nd Avenue
604-736-3282

Image is "String Theory", courtesy of the gallery

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