Alana Riley has a knack for seeing art in everything. Even her ping-pong table, which also doubles as her work desk, can spark a series of artworks. One day Riley noticed how the vast blue expanse of the table with its delicate white line slicing across the rectangle resembles Barnett Newman’s painting Kettler’s Cathedra. She explored this idea, using both video and still photography, and each artwork plays with our sense of perception. Her exhibition at Galerie Joyce Yahouda titled You are the Work shows us a video of the table that started it all, in a tight shot which makes the screen at first glance appear as though it is a lightbox. Only when a yellow ping-pong ball flits across the shot does our mind make a small summersault, and we realize what we’re looking at. The massive blue artwork dominating the gallery space isn’t a precisely executed minimalist painting, but said ping-pong table – photographed and enlarged to such vast dimensions it inhabits the entire wall, sucking the viewer into the blue expanse. Only the tiniest scuff-marks give the game away. Completing the trio is a photo of the huge print hanging in the gallery, complete with two figures standing in front of the work, much like I just did myself, inducing a moment of déjà-vu.

Blue is not the dominating colour of the entire exhibition. In the adjoining gallery space Riley screens a video of John Baldessari’s  art video Six Colorful Inside Jobs. Turning expectations on its head once more, we don’t see the actual movie, but an audience viewing the movie. As the documentary cycles through each artwork, the audience is subtly illuminated by the colour bouncing off the movie screen, bathing them in orange, yellow, purple,… each colour shift bringing with it a change in atmosphere and intensity.

Finally, make sure that you visit the back of the gallery, where you can see four large prints which were produced during Riley’s participation in the popular ARTV series Vente de Garage.

Riley plays with the way we see everyday objects, giving us a small insight on how she views the world: we live in a world filled with art.

This exhibition is part of the Mois de la Photo.

Galerie Joyce Yahouda, space 516
Alana Riley
You are the Work
September 8 – October 22, 2011
www.joyceyahoudagallery.com