Gillian Iles,“the one-eyed man is king” installation, 180 x 180”, oil, acrylic and pastel on housewrap, 2024

the one-eyed man is king | gillian iles
aug 16 - sept 7
opening reception thursday, aug 15, 6 - 8pm

exhibition walk through with the artist: saturday, september 7, 2pm

Additionally, the artist will be present in the gallery on Saturday, August 31

the one-eyed man is king
(Inspired by the proverb In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is King)[1]

the one-eyed man is king explores conflict, specifically the fabrication, entrenchment and alienation of “sides” and the act of targeting. It is a reaction to the ubiquitous combative and divisive rhetoric presently occurring on a myriad of scales.  Conflict requires establishment of a difference, a resulting division and a commitment to prop up the belief of difference, a justification of being on the right side, ultimately deserving to conquer and win. Conflict requires people to be convinced to believe a difference exists and is non-negotiable.

This installation uses imagery, scale and installation methods to portray the duality of conflict and the precarity of its invention. The imagery presents a continuous montage of two points of view, “us” versus “us”.  Hunting blinds sit camouflaged amidst chaotic, deconstructing wildernesses. The blinds’ shooting slits open to various degrees presenting one side’s gaze targeting what lies beyond. The viewer stands enveloped within the 9ft high by 40+ft expanse, being targeted by seven blinds and a myriad of shooting slits. In conflict, imagery from recent conflicts gleaned from media reports of ruling parties and majestic order represent another side. The viewer is implicated into this second reality based on where they find themselves situated within the work. They have the perception of being a target and being manipulated into taking a side.

Iles, Studio Process image, 2024

Permanence and dominance is unachievable by either side.  The wildernesses deconstructing into abstracted elements and the contrasting “order” elements partially rendered with surface disintegration both allude to the impermanence and questionable nature of their rhetoric. The flexible material of the imagery allows the work to drape and appear suggestively insecure, akin to a peeling façade that is being barely kept intact and in place. Temporary supports are used to prop up the imagery to prevent it collapsing. Related found objects are incorporated into the support structure and occasionally suggest reinforcement of the gallery space itself. The precarious existence of the entire installation suggests the inevitability of self-destruction.

 the one-eyed man is king is the first section of a mixed media project currently referred to as Glorious Catastrophes.

Artist Bio:

Ideas draw from geopolitical events and their relationship to the individual experience. Gillian finds commentary within power dynamics, social constructs and systems of belief especially related to colonial Western culture.  Their manufactured existence, illusionary value, tenuous persistence and questionable motives are of particular interest. Contradiction and precarity are relevant at all stages of the creative process - within manufacturing of idea and means of perception, as well as influencing methods of presentation, materials and expectation. Gillian’s practice spans painting, sculpture, constructions, sound & video. Installations merge real and illusionary space into a composite of juxtaposed realities and points of view and viewer involvement. Often large-scale, her installations respond to the opportunities of a space and ways to implicate the viewer.

Gillian has exhibited in Europe, USA and Canada in public institutions, artist-run centres and commercial galleries. She was a founding member of two artist collective galleries in Toronto - Propeller and Loop, and is currently a member of the Red Head Gallery. She teaches at OCADU, Sheridan College and Toronto School of Art.


view past work from Iles here