Arena marks the third and most recent body of work by Toronto artist Frank Rodick. In the artist’s own words, the title of this exhibition refers to “a place of spectacle, a place of combat and/or entertainment, a place where we come together to watch other members of our species encounter each other in ways that perhaps take us simultaneously outside of ourselves and deeper within.” Each photograph within the series evokes a wide spectrum of primeval human emotions, taking the viewer on “a journey into primal territory.” The imagery is often highly sexual, suggesting pleasure and ecstasy, while concurrently evoking pain and death. These oppositions are also present in the compositions of each work, which are at times deep and confining, and ambiguous and distant, especially in the depiction of a typically intimate, tangible, and inviting subject matter. The juxtaposition of these conflicting sensations directly confronts and provokes the viewer.

Each work in Arena is a conventionally photographed “moment” taken from video recordings. Using various techniques to manipulate the composition of each image, and several processes in the darkroom to further adjust their appearance, Rodick achieves an indeterminate, dark and gritty quality that characterizes the superficial impression of these photographs. All of the images are hand printed and toned by the artist, with each work becoming unique as a result of variations in toning and materials used, such as filters.

A selection of photographs from Arena was chosen by Katherine Ware, Curator of Photographs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, for inclusion in the Discoveries of the Meeting Place exhibition at FotoFest 2006. In her curatorial statement, Ms. Ware writes “In this body of work, Rodick has boldly tackled with his camera a subject both fleeting and inchoate, with haunting results.”