Following on from the success of ‘The White Room’ (2017), Sean Morris has returned to Stanley Street Gallery to curate his newest group exhibition, séance – fade to black. In séance, the use of tonality, though conversely, is again used as a thematic tool in this selection of works. Devoid of colour, the works curated into this exhibition herald form over function; presenting as dark enquiries into tone, texture and the paranormal.
The term ‘séance’, or seance, comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French seoir, "to sit". A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma" ("a movie session"). In English, however, the word came to be used specifically for a meeting of people who are gathered to receive messages from ghosts or to listen to a spirit medium discourse with or relay messages from spirits.
A séance can refer to a variety of activites; each with its’ own social norms and conventions, its’ own favoured tools, and its’ own range of expected outcomes.
Amy Dynan
Sublime
November 22-December 16, 2023