Averns' work is located within the systems, institutions and patterns of thinking
that seek to mark out and measure bodies
Dorothy Barenscott

In 1993, Dick Averns mounted Operation Indian, a clandestine billboard project in the UK that redefined colonial representations of North American First Nations. More than ten years later, the commodification of space remains a central theme in the work of this British-born, Canadian resident, artist.

Issues of language, identity politics and media convergence - major arbiters of spatial control - are approached through photo-based works, sculpture and performativity. Many of these projects are undertaken as public artworks. By presenting works that span the gallery and street, an emphasis on diverse audiences is maintained.

Recent projects such as Emergency Measures, Principles of Occupation and the ongoing Seats of Power series, have elaborated upon questions of security and territorial control. Principles of Occupation was executed in New York City shortly after 9/11, raising questions of order and visibility. Meanwhile, Seats of Power features notions of endurance, vulnerability and comfort, both domestic and ethical, in works that give legibility to institutional critiques; recalibrating non-aligned bodies.

Dick Averns is represented by the Bjornson Kajiwara Gallery, Vancouver, and teaches at the Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary.