Robert Waters

"Change Room" is an exhibition catalogue for Canadian artist Robert Waters' show at The Container, Tokyo. A fully bilingual publication (Eng / Jap), the catalogue explores in essays and illustrations the current works of Waters and his fascination with the human body and its evolution: "Transformation and evolution are repeated conceptual notions in the works of Canadian artist Robert Waters, who currently lives in Spain. From his early collages and sculptural constructions of mid 90s, influenced by American Modernism, to religion inspired pieces from his Mexico City residence years, and to his current works - a layering of ideas, images, and associations, force a subjective reconsideration of themes and perception; a juxtaposition of visuals and concepts beget an intellectual reconstruction that relies heavily on associative erudition. In the last decade, one of the central themes in Waters' work has been the human body, or more specifically, its limitations. His work often recalls physical and psychological instinctive impulses we attempt to suppress, such as lust, violence, the vulnerability of masculinity, and gender, all whilst examining the body as "a machine," an instrument that evolves side-by-side its emotional, social, and intellectual properties. This relation between the evolutions of the physical and the cerebral generates tension and forms a discourse on philosophical and social constructs. Does gender, for example, define one's interest in sports, or does social conditioning? Physical activity is indeed a principal theme in "Change Room," Waters' installation at The Container. Using the Greek gymnasium as a historic reference for physical and mental advancement, Waters investigates the disconnection between the physical / biological limitations of the body and the psychological and intellectual properties of humans, in particular the male body and ideas of masculinity - its aesthetics, its function, and its social standing."