John Abrams, Carl Beam (Ojibway), Michael Belmore (Ojibway), Andrew Danson, Bonnie Devine, Gyula Kalko, Vincenzo Pietropaolo, Greg Staats (Mohawk), and Badanna Zack
Painting, photography and installation
Representation of the epic events of history was once the exclusive domain of the grand
academic tradition of history painting serving the political and economic interests of the ruling elite. Today, artists freely interrogate official historical narratives and culturally specific personal and collective memories inform their perspectives on history. This group exhibition features artists searching for new ways to interface with history through painting, photography, video or installation.
John Abrams' panorama of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham depicts the event showered with gold sparks to interpret the scene with a subtle sense of irony and give expression to its mythic position in Canadian history.
The late Ojibway artist Carl Beam's provocative aesthetic rejects Western historical and cultural hegemony, collapses hierarchies, and incorporates Native world view on equal footing.
Gyula Kalko explores parallels between historical works of art and contemporary events. Circle of History XIV suggests that similar battles of ideologies are at play in the provocative parades on Gay Pride Day and the pagan bacchanalia processions depicted on the frescoes of the Palazzo Farnese in Catholic, 17th Century Rome.
Bonnie Devine's multi media installation Trees Standing in Water is offered in homage to Toronto's rivers, the Don, the Rouge and the Humber. The importance of waterways that the trading aboriginal nations have navigated for thousands of years is also the subject of Michael Belmore's sculptural relief, Shorelines.
Beyond personal memory, the photographic portraits of Japanese Canadians (Andrew Danson), members of Toronto's Italian community (Vincenzo Pietropaolo) and families of the Six Nations Reserve (Greg Staats) are testimony to at times troubling chapters in Canadian history, while Badanna Zack's collection of newsprint skulls makes powerful commentary on the role of media in the construction of history.
In association with SPIN Gallery.
Image: Circle of History XIV, 1994, Gyula Kalko
Map location 6
SPIN Gallery, 1100 Queen Street West, 2nd floor
