Tammi Campbell’s method for penetrating the male-dominated Modernist and Minimalist canons hinges on an enormous amount of research that allows her to technically and truthfully replicate each work, the results of which are perfect stand-ins for their respective originals. Her visible additives, whether bubble wrap, tape, or leaving some element undone, tend to generate both “a-ha” excitement and confusion. A closer look at these paintings show that the protective bubble wrap and tape are in fact an illusion—trompe l’oeil painting taken to its hyperrealistic extreme. The materials cast completely from acrylic paint medium suspend viewers in a perpetual state of anticipation and prevents us from entering a true work of art.
Tammi Campbell (b. 1974, Calgary, Alberta) received her BFA from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. Recent solo exhibitions include As Long as it Lasts, Anat Ebgi (New York, 2024); On View, Blouin Division (Montreal, 2022); Exactly Wrong, MAKI Gallery (Tokyo, 2021); Boring Art, Anat Ebgi (Los Angeles, 2019); Bring Ice, Thanks, Arsenal Contemporary Art (New York, 2019); Concerning Certain Events, Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon, 2015); Why Can’t Minimal, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery (Toronto, 2014); Fool Me Twice, Dunlop Art Gallery (Regina, 2013); The Thick Of It, Mercer Union (Toronto, 2013); and Le Projet Peinture, Galerie de l’UQAM (Montreal, 2013). She participated in the Canadian Biennale 2014 at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON, as well as the 30th International Symposium of Contemporary Art of Baie-St-Paul. Campbell lives and works in Montréal, Quebec.