18 Pairs of Blue and White Running Shoes is a bronze sculptural installation by Gathie Falk, commissioned for a residential development by Washington Properties at 35th Avenue and Cambie Street. It is installed in conjunction with two additional sculptures by the artist on the site: 900 Oranges and 10 Baseball Caps. The public artworks at this site continue Falk’s devotion to keen observations of everyday objects, as well as her use of repetition, both of which have been central to her practice for over six decades.
18 Pairs of Blue and White Running Shoes consists of a row of bronze shoes, cast in multiples from six new ceramic originals hand-sculpted by the artist and installed in pairs in an alternating pattern. The resulting row of shoes appears largely uniform in scale while displaying subtle differences from one pair to the next. In conceiving of this work, Falk revisited her ceramic projects of the 1960s and 70s, in particular, Eighteen Pairs of Red Shoes with Roses (1973) and Blue Running Shoes (1973). The shoes in 18 Pairs of Blue and White Running Shoes bear the traces of human presence while reflecting Falk’s career-long interest in utilizing elements of clothing to explore ideas of gender, ritual and status.