FANTASTIC WORLDS

How do we imagine the future? What other kinds of realities are possible? What would happen if time and space could bend, stop or fast-forward?

From Science Fiction, to Magic Realism, to Surrealism, artists, filmmakers, and writers have long turned to the fantastic to ponder these questions, using vivid imaginative stories and imagery to open portals into other worlds. Sometimes these works provide routes to escape, offering transportation along a whimsical journey full of textures, shapes, and forms that defy everyday reality. Other works breathe magic into our daily life by animating and transforming household objects into exploratory creatures in an otherwise normal setting.

Through exploring these different avenues of the fantastic, each of the works is a playful invitation to imagine and build worlds, new experiences, and ways of seeing. This generative and exploratory aspect of the fantastic is why historically, especially during challenging times of economic crisis and war, these artistic strategies have often surged to grapple with uncertainty, change, and the large, complicated question of the future. By offering an outlet of creative potential to construct new pathways forward and challenge existing assumptions or barriers.

What Lies Beyond was curated by Robin Lynch, Manager/Curator, Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, Region 1 of the AFA Travelling Exhibition Program (TREX).